Activation: Project Swan
by kymbersmith90
Summary: When her best friend, Angela moves in, Bella Swan decides to tell her the truth about her job working for the CIA. She wakes the next morning and finds Angela dead in her bed.  Now Bella must search for the truth about her employers.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Prologue

The only sounds that could be heard in the room were the coughing noises coming from her mouth in an attempt to draw precious air into her lungs. After giving her a few minutes to settle down he tried again.

"Who sent you?"

Her silence hung in the air between them as his frustration grew. With a wave of his hand, her face was forced back into the rusty tub in front of her and under the cool water. After a few minutes of listening to her struggle for breath he had her brought back up to face him again.

"One more time. Who sent you?"

"Go to Hell," Was her only response.

Taking one look at the young woman shivering in front of him he signalled to his guards to let her go. With a rough shove, she was pushed to the floor, before his feet. He took his time, rising slowly from his seat and walking to the far side of the room to fetch what he needed. Returning, he handed her the towel, to wipe her face and sat back down.

"All I want to know is who sent you and then this will all be over." His voice was pleasantly sweet but she wasn't fooled. She knew this would never be over and she had been trained better than to crack so easily. So she kept her mouth shut.

After ten minutes of strained silence he signalled his guards again, and they hurried over, lifting her small frame from the floor and easily strapping her into the dental chair. Her eyes widened as the prop was forced into her mouth and her lips spread wide.

"Last chance," he leered, waving the pliers in front of her face. "Who. Sent. You?"

Her only response was to close her eyes and tighten her grip on the chair's arm rests.

**A/N **

**I don't want to make this too long but I have some people to thank. **

**The first would be SR, Thank you so much for all of your help, advice and friendship.  
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**Secondly, my good friends Blood Of Your Lips and December LeNoir for convincing me to write this and for listening to my rambles about summaries and plots and characters. **

**You can find them all on my favorite Author list.**

**And finally, thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 1

With her back pressed flat to the wall, the young woman waited quietly for a sign of movement. When she heard footsteps inching closer against the right wall of the corridor, she took her chance. After a quick breath, she swung around; her laser sight landed on the chest of the man nearest her hiding place, and she quickly pulled the trigger. As assailant number one hit the ground, number two took the chance to move forward firing off rounds at his attacker. She pressed her back tight to the wall behind her biding her time. If she was right, the guy was carrying a Glock 21SF which held 14 rounds maximum. He had fired three in the basement, two when they saw her leaving the basement and another five when she shot number one. That left a maximum of four in the magazine.

Taking a risk, she stepped out once again from behind the wall and began firing at the heavy built guy still standing. One of her rounds grazed his shoulder and she saw him wince in pain before he began firing again. She counted one...two...three...four shots before she took her opening and ran. The burly guy behind her took aim, pulled his trigger and screamed in frustration as the gun remained silent, quickly checking the clip he realised that he was out of ammunition but it was too late anyway. The slight, redhead had already left the building and was making her way towards the gated entrance. He radioed for back-up but as the rest of his team made their way to the front of the mansion the young girl had already made her way over the gate and dropped down onto the sidewalk on the other side.

A non-descript white van was already waiting for her and the back doors were pushed open by a bear of a man. He offered his large paw to the girl's dainty hand and helped to pull her inside. Once she was seated he allowed her a few minutes to catch her breath before asking "Did you get it?"

She simply responded by holding up the small device in her hand. The guy just smiled in response as the van peeled away from the curb.

-x-

Fourteen hours later, a private plane touched down at San Rafel airfield carrying only two passengers, a young woman in her early twenties and an older, bigger built gentleman in his late thirties. They quickly exited the aircraft and made their way over to the black town car waiting for them. No one ever paid them any attention. It is exactly what made them so good at their jobs.

-x-

She hadn't realised that she had been sitting on her sofa, deep in thought for over three hours. She knew she needed to tell Angela about her job, about what she was, but she didn't know how she was going to do that. Would Angela still want to live with her when she knew how much danger her life held? Would she even believe her? What would she say to convince her otherwise? It wasn't as if she could take her to the office, or on a mission.

Two short knocks on the door brought Bella out of her thoughts and back to reality. A quick check of her watch told her what she already knew; Angela was bang on time, just like always. Pulling the door open she smiled at her friend and gestured for her to enter.

"You know you don't have to knock anymore, you are officially moving in today."

"I know but it still doesn't feel right yet," Angela replied following her friend into the kitchen. "I guess once my stuff is here, then it will feel more like home." Even though she was happy to get this opportunity to live with her best friend once again, Angela was still gloomy and Bella picked up on it immediately. Handing her friend a cup of coffee she quietly inquired, "How are you feeling Ange?"

"OK, I guess. A part of me always knew Eric was never going to be _the_ one, but I still never thought I would walk in and catch him fucking Jessica Stanley in our bed." The ferocity behind her last few words shocked Bella. She had never seen her friend this angry before and she couldn't help but imagine all the things she could do to her best friend's cheating ex-boyfriend that would result in his balls on a bronze plaque. "Ben should be here around lunch time with my stuff so until then, how do you feel about brunch? Might as well make the most of your time off." Bella could see that Angela was finding a way to distract herself and she wasn't about to sour her friend's mood further by bringing up _him_ again anytime soon.

-x-

Twenty minutes later found the girls seated at the Zuni Cafe on Market Street ordering Caesar salad and peppermint tea. The conversation between the two of them flowed effortlessly. They were busy planning Angela's moving in party for the following weekend. Everyone had been invited and Angela was looking forward to the distraction a party would bring. She hoped that something might happen between her and Ben that night but she would never say so. She didn't need to, Bella could read the emotions written all over her friends face whenever his name was mentioned, and of course the massive grin that would light up her face was a dead giveaway. She would have to do something to push them closer together at the party.

After finishing their brunch, the girls walked home in silence. Angela was just content to enjoy a pleasant afternoon in the city, whereas Bella was savouring these few minutes with her friend, just in case they were to be her last.

-x-

Angela could sense that something was wrong, Bella may have been good at hiding her emotions, but after eight years, her best friend had come to pick up on her small tells, such as the one Bella was currently performing; fiddling with her mother's wedding bands hung on the gold chain around her neck.

"I have something to tell you and I need you to listen, really listen to everything I have to say before you jump in." The tone of Bella's voice caught her best friend off guard and after quickly swallowing down her fear; Angela nodded for her to continue. "A few days after I graduated high school I was approached by a man about a job offer. He told me that the American Government could use someone like me and handed me a card before walking away." Angela gasped at this piece of information but true to her agreement, kept her mouth shut so Bella could carry on.

"I thought it was a hoax; that it was just some guy winding me up. But that little card kept burning a hole in my pocket until exactly a week later when I called. I was invited to come down to a private training facility to take both a written and practical test as well as a polygraph. I passed them all with flying colours. I was told I was the best recruit they had ever seen. After I was given a medical and told they would run a background check, they sent me home with a cell phone. They told me if the medical was clean and a background check was clear they would contact me to set up a meet. I got a phone call exactly two days later and was asked to fly out to San Francisco to meet with the director of the division they wanted me to work for. Her name was Esme Platt." This time Angela had to work harder to control herself. She just couldn't believe that the sweet woman she had met at parties and lunches was the director of a government facility.

"Esme told me that she wanted me to work for her, for a black-ops division of the CIA known as Twilight, and that if I agreed to her terms and conditions that the government would pay for me to attend UCLA. It was too good of an offer to pass up so I accepted. The only conditions to the offer were that I would have to clock at least fourteen hours a week while I was still in college and that I couldn't tell anyone about whom I worked for. The division cover was an insurance broker."

As Bella finished her story she lowered her eyes to the table top, allowing Angela the chance she would need to process everything she had just dumped on her. After what felt like an eternity for Bella but in reality was actually no more than seven minutes, Angela finally spoke.

"Wow," another awkward silence descended upon the pair before Angela spoke again. "I knew you were hiding something Bells but I was not expecting that! Why are you telling me now?"

After choosing her words carefully, Bella opted to tell her friend the truth. "I don't want to scare you Ange, but my job is dangerous. There are guns, all over this apartment. I come and go at all hours of the day. I didn't want you to stumble across something that you couldn't explain and then freak out on me," Angela smiled gently at her best friend and took Bella's hand across the table. "I also don't like keeping things from you," Bella continued. The smile on Angela's face widened after this confession. "I love you."

"I love you too," was all Angela said before she flung herself at her best friend. The two girls sat, wrapped around each other until they heard the door open and then click shut. Looking up, Angela's eyes met Ben in the door way and when she noticed that she was being watched she quickly ducked her head.

"I have everything on the van, ready to be unloaded," he announced, breaking the slightly uncomfortable tension that had settled over the kitchen.

Ben had met the two girls in their first year of college at a Frat party, and had immediately fallen into their group. He had been slightly awkward, in his six-foot-two frame with short, blonde hair and black wire framed glasses. He was too nerdy for the jocks on campus, but for Bella and Angela he was the perfect addition to their own slightly awkward and nerdy group.

After eight years, the only things that had changed in Ben were slightly more fashionable clothes, thanks to Angela and contact lenses instead of the glasses. One thing that most definitely hadn't changed was his feelings for Angela. Bella could see them plain as day, written all over her friends face, and she knew for a fact that Angela had feelings for Ben. However, neither of them had the confidence to express those feelings, no matter how hard Bella pushed.

For the next four hours the trio worked together, hauling boxes off of Ben's van, into the apartment and then unpacking them. It was hard work but finally, at 5pm, the apartment was beginning to look cleaner, as things were taking their places. Bella decided to order Chinese take-out and cracked open a few beers to celebrate all they had achieved that day. Whilst waiting for the food to be delivered, Ben selected a film for them to watch. Bella had taken the whole weekend off work, so there was no hurry to get everything unpacked that night.

Sitting and relaxing with her friends, as they ate, drank and talked, Bella was completely unaware of what was taking place in the security office of the facility hidden underneath the San Francisco branch of Platt's Brokers. The large projection screen in front showed a clear image of Bella and Angela sat at the kitchen table in their apartment, embracing. The man stood to the left of the screen pressed a button on his computer and the film stopped, the screen retracting. A deathly silence hung in the room, until the only woman present cleared her throat.

"Thank you, gentlemen. If that is all, I have a mission to plan." She rose fluidly from her seat and walked toward the door until a voice stopped her. "Ma'am, what should we do about the girl?"

"What we usually do in a situation such as this. Take care of her."

-x-

The faint buzzing of a phone could be heard over the top of the romantic comedy Ben had chosen for them to watch. Bella already knew who it was and excused herself to her room to answer the call.

"Hello,"

"Isabella, I am so sorry to call on your weekend off," the voice on the other end of the phone was always so soft, so sweet and so sincere. It was what she imagined her mother would sound like, calling late at night to gossip about her newest activity. However, this voice did not belong to her mother, it belonged to her employer. "We have an emergency that requires your immediate attention. I am so sorry to drag you from your friends." Bella sighed. Esme was always sorry to drag her from her friends but it never stopped her from doing it.

"Of course Esme, I will be there within the hour," with Bella's promise the line went dead and Esme was gone. Tossing her phone onto her bed, Bella took a quick shower to wash away the sweat and dust of the day and then dressed in her usual work attire: a black, fitted pants suit and a white shirt paired with black pumps.

As soon as she entered the lounge, her friends knew where she was going. They didn't need an explanation. It wasn't the first time Bella had been called to work during an evening together and it most definitely wouldn't be the last.

"Where are you headed this time, Bells?" Ben was the only one of her friends that ever pushed the issue of her job. He felt like there was always something Bella was holding back when she told them about her job working for Platt's Brokers. Her job demanded she travel across country at all hours of the night to tend to her "clients." He knew of no other insurance brokers that worked past the usual nine-to-five hours. He had briefly entertained the thought that his best friend may be a call girl, but dismissed the notion as soon as it came. Bella was not _that_ kind of girl.

"Just to New York. One of my clients had his home broken into and I need to be there to assess the damage caused and provide a quote for a settlement plan."

"On your weekend off?" Ben was sceptical. "Can't it wait until Monday morning?"

"This guy has just had his life turned upside down Ben, no it cannot wait. I will see you guys when I get home," And with that, Bella was gone. Angela shot Ben a look that clearly said he had crossed a line and then the two of them settled back into a comfortable silence to finish their film.

-x-

When Bella stepped out of the private elevator she was met by her partner Emmett McCarty. Emmett was a good man who had been with the CIA for twenty years. He had been there with her on her first assignment and to comfort her after her first shooting; In a word, Emmett McCarty had been Bella's rock since joining the agency.

"What's up Em?"

"No idea Bells, we were waiting for you to get here before we started the briefing." Emmett placed his palm on Bella's lower back to guide her to the briefing room at the very back of the facility. There were two people already seated around the conference table.

Esme didn't even glance up from the papers she was reading in front of her, when she heard the door open. Why would she? She already knew who it would be and they were both here for the same reason she was.

"Emmett, Isabella, thank you for coming in on such short notice. We have a problem in New York that needs your immediate attention." Looking up for the first time since she had entered the room, Esme pointed the remote in her hand at the TV screen to her left. The screen quickly changed from the standard CIA crest to a grainy black and white photograph of a man.

"The man you are looking at is Michael Newton, CEO of Newton Industries a major computer software manufacturer. We have heard reports that Newton has been developing his own little pet project in the form of a Trojan that has been designed to allow external access to our national defence files. As you know, we cannot allow that to happen."

"Tonight Newton is hosting a party at his home in New York City to celebrate his half year profits. Emmett, you will be going in as a waiter strictly for back up. Make sure you have an eye on Newton at all times. Isabella, you will be going in as a guest, your cover will be Sienna Castro a wealthy widower who is looking to invest in the company. Once you are inside, your main aim is to make it to the third floor which houses Newton's private office. Get inside, download the programme and get out as quickly as possible without raising suspicions. Are there any questions?" Esme looked at both Emmett and Bella before turning to the third person in the room, who until now had remained silent.

Clearing his throat gently, Jasper rose to his feet and looked to the people assembled before him.

"Good evening everyone, I have a few things here that will make your job easier." Jasper picked up the first item in front of him. "For you Bella, we have your favourite lipstick in _All Night Long_," Jasper gave the bottom half a quick twist and proudly displayed the flash drive he had hidden in there. "This is for the Trojan. Copy it straight onto here and then destroy the original programme by running the file I have already installed onto it. Newton will think it was an outside job by some punk-ass kid."

The next item Jasper produced was a Blackberry, much like the one Bella was already using. "This will be your cell. I have loaded it with a programme that will crack even our password protected computers," at that comment Esme raised an eyebrow and Jasper hurriedly assured her that he hadn't tested that theory, he was just _that_ confident in his design. "Just plug it into any USB port on the computer, hit send and the cell will do all the work for you."

After Bella had picked up all of her equipment from Jasper, and had been given a quick demonstration of how they worked, Esme passed Emmett and Bella their briefs and told them a car was already out front, waiting to take them to the private airfield at San Rafel. It was only a half hour drive from the city and Emmett took the time to quiz Bella on how the move was going. He knew once they were in the air, they would both be too focused on reviewing the brief to make small talk.

-x-

Checking her wig was still firmly in place, Bella took one last look at her reflection in the hotel mirror. For this alias she was wearing a long, wavy blonde wig, ice blue contact lenses, a black and white, structured bandage dress, a set of killer Louboutin heels and a bangle that probably cost an entire month's rent. Happy with her appearance, she started gathering the necessary items she would need into her clutch, Jasper's flash drive lipstick and password cracking cell phone and her Smith & Wesson 9mm, before heading to the limo waiting out front.

Once she stepped outside her hotel room, Bella Swan no longer existed; in her place was the wealthy widower, Sienna Castro.

**A/N**

**The biggest thanks go to my beta Maria Visconti (a.k.a Lady Meadow.) Without her input this chapter wouldn't be what it is. **

**I also owe thanks to Elliedgasmswoon for her knowledge on San Francisco. **

**And finally thanks for reading**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 2

She took one last deep breath before she accepted the hand her driver was offering and stepped out onto the drive of Mike Newton's mansion. She didn't look back before making her way over to the steps leading up to the front door. She was surprised that, for someone so security conscious, there was no one at the door waiting to check her invitation to the party. Instead, the door was wide open, the event already in full swing, as she made her way inside.

She had studied the blueprints Esme provided her with intensely on the plane. But one of the first things Emmett had ever taught her was to study her surroundings closely; you could learn a great deal from all of the small details most people overlook. A quick sweep of the entry hall told her more than the blueprints ever could. There was a staircase sweeping up each side of the room joining to form a balcony that overlooked the lobby. Each staircase was protected by guards and surveillance cameras that would show every person who used them. Sure, they weren't obvious to most of the guest but Bella could tell they never moved out of sight of each set of stairs, they didn't try to mingle with any of the other party goers, they passed up all of the drinks and canapés offered to them and, of course, they carried themselves in a way that screamed of a military background. They would make getting to Newton's office on the third floor difficult but not impossible.

Bella made her way towards the open ball room straight ahead of her, accepting a glass of Champagne from the nearest server. She could already see Newton in the middle of a large group of people who were laughing at whatever lame story he felt the need to tell. Emmett was stood off to the side, a tray of canapés in hand. Neither partner acknowledged the other.

Thinking quickly, Bella made her way toward the group of people in front of her with her eyes glued to the business man she would need to use if she stood a chance of getting past those guards. She didn't have to wait long to put her plan into action. As soon as she approached the group, Newton's eyes swung to her own and latched on. Bella used this to her advantage, slipping in with the others and joining their conversation about the recession and how it had affected them all individually.

She stood in the group for over an hour and had consumed three glasses of champagne before Newton approached her. During this time, his eyes had barely left hers and she could see his lust for Sienna Castro reflected in them. When people started breaking away to greet other guests, Newton made his way towards her purposefully moving her away from prying eyes.

"What's a beautiful young woman like you doing here alone?" He purred into her ear as he backed her towards the nearest wall. Bella did an internal eye role at this comment. If she had a dollar for every time one of her targets that used this line on her, she could retire.

"I'm here to meet you, Mr. Newton," she replied without skipping a beat. "I've been looking at investing in your company for a few months now and when I saw that you were hosting this party I had my name added to the guest list so I could see who would be in charge of my money."

Mike was shocked that someone so young was interested in investing into his company, but a quick glance at her labelled dress, shoes and bag (not to mention her bracelet) confirmed that she had money but how much he didn't yet know.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe I caught your name."

"Sienna," Bella answered smoothly. She had long ago become used to giving out false names; it was almost a habit now. "Sienna Castro, I was married to Pedro Castro a descendant of Pedro I of Brazil."

As soon as Bella mentioned the first ruler of the Brazilian empire Mike's face lit up. He knew that the young woman in front of him had money and if he could find a way to win her over then he would be able to fund his newest project. The fact that Sienna was an incredibly sexy woman was beneficial. He was lost in fantasies of Sienna Newton. Bella cleared her throat, after standing in front of a silent Newton for three minutes. Mike shook his head slightly and signalled for more champagne.

For the next three hours, Bella spent her time trying to gain as much information as she could out of Mike, whilst pretending to be interested in his advances. She laughed in all the right places, hmmed and ahhed in others and even placed her hand on Mike's thigh. However, it took Mike a whole bottle of champagne and another hour before he finally worked up the courage to invite Sienna to a quieter room of the house.

Bella smirked as he took her hand and led her past the guards in the lobby and up the staircase on the left, headed towards his bedroom. Mike had never felt so lucky in his entire life.

-x-

The screen in front of them showed a young woman in her early twenties with long blonde hair dressed in expensive clothes, holding the hand of an older guy wearing a tailored Armani Suit. They watched silently as he led the woman past the people in the lobby drinking and chatting beyond the hidden guards and up the stairs.

The only woman in the room smiled to herself noting that, so far, everything had gone to plan. "Kill the com lines," was all that was said before she left the conference room and headed home to prepare for her date that evening.

-x-

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Mike was all over her. His hands moved from her hair, down her back, over the flair of her hips, up to her breasts and then back down to her bottom. It wasn't the first time Bella had a drunken horny guy feel her up, either at a club with her friends or as part of her job, but it did make it a lot easier to do what she needed to. She gently wound her fingers in Mike's hair and tugged his face towards her own, just as their lips met; she slid her hands down to his neck, gently applying pressure to his carotid artery. Only ten seconds of pressure was necessary to render him unconscious and she gently eased his weight down onto the bed behind them.

Running to the door, she checked to make sure there was no one in the landing outside, and left the bedroom, headed to the office on the third floor.

"Emmett, I'm on my way up now, make sure you keep an eye on the guards. Let me know if there's any suspicious activity."

"I got you covered Bells," was all she heard before the com line once again went quiet, Emmett having gone back to his serving duties.

It didn't take Bella long to find Mike's office. The security schematics and blue prints Esme had provided her with made it easy to identify. After checking to make sure there was no one in the area, she tried the handle and was relieved when it turned, the door swinging open. Slipping inside, she closed it softly behind her before turning to look at the room. Mike's computer sat at the far end of the room on top of a heavy oak desk.

Not wasting a moment of the opportunity, Bella briskly walked towards the desk and slid in behind it onto the soft leather seat. The computer was already on, the Newton industries logo flashing on the screen. She hit the space bar and it changed instantly to the log on screen. Pulling out Jasper's cell and the USB cable he had provided, she plugged it into the nearest port and hit send. Just as Jasper had promised, the cell immediately jumped into action taking less than four seconds to bring up the password for Newton's log on. She hit return and was greeted with Mike's desktop page.

After bringing up the search panel, it took Bella only a few minutes to realise that something was wrong. The file that Esme promised was on this computer could not be found. She tried the search three times before manually checking all of the files on Newton's hard drive.

-x-

As Bella was searching for the Trojan virus, Emmett was circulating near the entry way, keeping an eye on the two guards that were constantly on the lookout for any trespassers. He knew the second that something was wrong.

Guard number one, had pulled a radio out of his pocket and was barking orders at someone as quietly as he could manage without drawing attention to himself. Guard number two placed a hand to his ear, obviously listening closely to whatever he was hearing through his com line.

Knowing that Bella was still upstairs with Newton and that she was taking decidedly longer than expected, Emmett inched his way closer to the guards, trying to hear what number one was saying. The only words he could make out were 'firewall', 'security' and 'breech' but it was enough for him to know that Bella was in trouble.

Walking away from the scene playing out before him, Emmett switched his com line back on to send her a warning. His message was never heard.

-x-

While searching the second from last file on the hard drive, Bella heard a noise in the corridor outside. She quickly unplugged her cell phone, and switched the monitor off slipping into the space under the desk. She pulled the chair in close and removed her weapon from her purse.

The distinct sound of the door opening greeted her. She strained her ears, listening to the footsteps inch closer to her hiding place. She didn't have to wait long before a set of shoes entered her line of vision and the sounds of keys being tapped met her ears.

"She's been here; the system is open and three searches have been performed recently. She couldn't have gotten far; check everywhere."

The guard was obviously talking to his boss and she knew he wouldn't leave any space unsearched in the room. Her time was running short and she had no idea how she was going to overpower this guy without drawing more attention to herself.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from just down the hall and Bella heard as the guard charged after the noise. Peeking out from her spot under the desk, she saw that there was no one in the room anymore and the door had been left ajar.

Looking out into the hall she could see Emmett, a broken bottle of champagne at his feet and three guards around him trying to escort him back downstairs to the party as he claimed that he had been sent upstairs looking for Mr Newton and his lady friend.

Bella took the opportunity and slipped out of the office, headlining in the opposite direction, down the stairs toward the bedroom she had left not long before. Luck was definitely not on her side as she ran straight into Mike's chest. His arms immediately went around her, pinning her body to his own as he snarled in her ear.

"Do you honestly think you could steal from me you little bitch?" Bella said nothing; instead she drew her head back and let it fly straight into his own, making him stagger back. She took the opportunity to bring her knee up and into his groin sending him sprawling to the floor. She didn't waste any more time, taking off down the stairs as qumickly as she could without causing a scene. As soon as she hit the bottom step, she made her way through the crowd of people still mingling in the lobby and headed out of the front door and towards the limo that was waiting for her along with the other guest's cars.

As the driver pulled out of the gates, Bella could see a very wet and dishevelled Emmett being escorted off the premises. He noticed the limo drive past and nodded twice at it, a silent signal to his partner that he was fine and would meet with her at her hotel later.

True to his word, Emmett arrived at Bella's door two hours later, freshly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. With a chuckle he took in Bella and her pink, fluffy pyjamas. She stood back, gesturing for him to enter and then followed him through the suite to the kitchen. After both partners were sat around the table with a glass of wine in hand she began detailing everything that had happened from the moment she entered Newton's home. Emmett allowed her to finish her story before he began questioning her.

"So you are sure the file wasn't there?" he asked. Emmett couldn't understand why Esme would send them to the party without concrete evidence that what they were looking for was there. He was more inclined to believe that Bella just hadn't found it, that she had made a mistake.

"I'm positive Em, I searched three times for the project name she gave us using every possible spelling I could think of and then manually searched all the files myself. I was two away from finishing when that guard burst in and those looked like three year old accounts."

Bella was becoming slightly annoyed that Emmett, her closest friend in the agency, would doubt her. One of the reasons why they worked so well together was because of their absolute trust in each other. If Emmett didn't trust her, how could she trust him to keep her safe, to save her life if need be?

"I'm sorry Bells, it's not that I don't believe you; it's just, why would Esme send us out here if she knew that file wouldn't be there? Maybe Newton moved it at the last moment?" At this point Emmett was talking to himself more than he was Bella.

"If he had, I would have found some evidence of it once having been there. I swear to you Emmett it was almost like this file never existed." The more Bella thought about it, the worse it looked to her. She had never failed in a mission before and this one had been deemed of utmost importance. "Besides, that doesn't explain why your message never got through to me on the com line."

"What can I say Bella, maybe there was a technical glitch?" Emmett did not like the turn his thoughts were taking. He was questioning his government, grounds for treason in their line of work.

Bella didn't buy any of it. There was something off about this mission and she couldn't put her finger on it at all. Thankfully, Emmett brought her out of her thoughts and back to reality.

"Never mind Bella; these things happen. I'm sure Esme will find another way for us to get that virus off the black market." Emmett took a look at Bella and decided to call it a night. "I'm gonna let you head to bed Bells. I'll see you for breakfast tomorrow."

With that parting statement, Emmett drained his glass and headed back to his own room for the night. He needed some sleep to try and clear his head. He believed Bella when she said that the file they had been searching for was not on Newton's computer. He had known Bella for years and never once during that time had she lied to him. However, he also believed his boss. Esme was certain that file would be on that computer. Something did not quite add up.

-x-

He was a predator; stalking his prey in the dark of the night, striking at the most vulnerable of times. The only people that had ever seen him never lived to warn the others (not that it would have made a difference). They never knew they were targets until the last possible second and then it was too late.

His steps were light making sure not to give away his position, and never to leave behind traces of his presence. The police would find no prints, no DNA, no trace of his existence at all. He was a ghost to them, a legend they knew of but had no evidence to support.

Withdrawing his weapon of choice, he pushed open the door to his destination with gloved hands and surveyed the scene in front of him. If he had a conscience, he would be happy to know that she wouldn't know what was coming; she would surrender to her fate peacefully. He didn't care; all he cared about was the ten million that would be deposited into his account in the Caymans by nine am.

The only sounds that could be heard were the soft clinks of metal on wood, once, twice, three times, before he retrieved the only evidence that would be available and left the same way he came in, shrinking into the night.

-x-

She was glad to be home. This mission had been eventful for all of the wrong reasons and she knew she would have to face the Esme inquisition when she got to the office tomorrow. Bella just couldn't understand it; she had been called in on her weekend off, for something Esme deemed of the utmost importance, only to find that what she needed wasn't there. Nothing about this mission had sat right with her and Bella was determined to get to the bottom of it. But first she needed sleep.

She quietly made her way through the dark apartment, noticing the odd piece of Angela's furniture as it caught the moonlight, and towards her bedroom. She didn't bother with showering; she just undressed and climbed in between her sheets, sighing as her tense body hit the cool, softness of her bed. Within three minutes, she was snoring gently.

-x-

The next morning Bella woke to a gentle light, filtering through the gaps in her drapes. She didn't use alarm clocks; her body had been trained long ago to wake in time for work. She gracefully rose from her bed and headed into her bathroom to shower, allowing the hot water to massage away all of the tension in her muscles and clearing her head for the day ahead. As she climbed out and dried herself off, she smiled to herself, knowing that this would be her first morning with Angela in the apartment.

Thirty minutes later, Bella was dressed in a black and grey panelled shift dress and her usual black pumps standing at the stove frying off bacon. She wanted to treat Angela to an incredible breakfast to thank her for her understanding and to show her how happy she was having her there. However, after another thirty minutes had past Bella became uneasy. Angela was supposed to be at work at eight; she would be late if she didn't rise soon.

Squashing her unease down, Bella decided to check her best friend's room; it was possible Angela had already left unaware that Bella had returned home or she could simply have forgotten to set her alarm. Grabbing the mug of coffee she had poured for Angela, Bella headed down the long corridor, towards the door on the left; Angela's room. The closer she got the more uneasy she felt.

Pushing open the door to the room, the sight that greeted her caused Bella to stop. The coffee mug slipped from her hand, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces on the floor; the black liquid pooling in much the same way as the red liquid had on the floor underneath Angela's bed. It took only seconds for what she was seeing to sink in before Bella doubled over, spilling her breakfast onto the carpeted floor in the hallway.

**A/N**

**First, I have to say sorry about the wait for this chapter, my son was terribly ill so I wasn't at home to publish it. I hope to keep to schedule and post every Sunday evening from now on, I have the next three chapters written. **

**As always, I owe a massive thanks to Meadow and her hubby for being the best betas out there. **

**If you want to see Bella's alias for this chapter, follow the link;**

**http:/www(dot)polyvore(dot)com/sienna_castro/set?id=35729572**

**Finally, thank you for being patient with me and waiting for this chapter. **

**Thank you for reading. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**I know that some of the alerts didn't go out for the last chapter so I appologise for that.  
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Chapter 3

"Miss Swan, my name is Detective Crowley I need to ask you a few questions." The senior detective approached her cautiously, like he would a scared kitten. She'd been sitting in exactly the same position since he had arrived on the scene two hours ago. He knew she was in shock but there was something else bubbling beneath the surface that he couldn't quite put a name to.

When Bella had finished emptying her breakfast onto the hallway carpet she had immediately called the police to report what had happened. She then sat down on the couch in her lounge while a forensics team swept the house looking for signs of a break-in, shell casings and DNA. Bella already knew who was behind this; she already knew that the police wouldn't find anything but she also knew she couldn't tell them the truth (especially after what had just happened to Angela).

Detective Crowley cleared his throat bringing Bella out of her memories and took a seat on the recliner facing her. Bella nodded for him to continue. "Can you tell me about your relationship to Miss Webber?" Detective Crowley began his investigation by gathering background information on his only witness and her relationship to the victim.

"Angela and I have been best friends for about eight years. We were freshman roommates in college. I invited Angela to move in with me here while she was working through some problems with her ex-boyfriend."

Detective Crowley nodded his head as he made brief notes. He knew that the person to first find a body is usually the first subject in an investigation. But his gut was telling him that Isabella Swan was an innocent party. However, that didn't mean that he should deviate from standard procedure.

"Can you tell me the circumstances surrounding how you came to find Miss Webber?" Bella had been expecting this question. Something wasn't right about that last mission and she was worried that her employer wouldn't vouch for her if she were to use them as an alibi.

"Angela came over Saturday afternoon to start moving her stuff in. Our friend Ben, from college arrived shortly after to do all the heavy lifting. We spent most of the day moving her things into the apartment but at around six I got a call from the office. I was out on a business trip all weekend with my partner Emmett McCarty so I didn't get in until late Sunday evening. I didn't check on her, I didn't want to wake her so I just went to bed. I got up early this morning to make us breakfast and when she didn't come out and it started getting later; I thought I would go and wake her. That's when I found her. You know the rest."

Bella gave her recount of the weekend with as little emotion as possible. She had been taught long ago how to compartmentalize things like emotions and get on with the job at hand. Detective Crowley just believed she was in shock and had yet to process what had happened today. He took the details of both Emmett and Ben in order to check on Bella's story and her alibi. Ben would also be able to provide more information on what had happened after Bella left for her trip.

He collected a few more details on her weekend, and then stood to leave. "Thank you for your time, Miss Swan. It looks like your friend may have gotten herself involved in something someone didn't want her to know about. This is definitely a professional hit. We will be in touch once we have more information." Bella wouldn't hold her breath for that.

As she shut the door behind the last of the forensics team (Angela's body having been removed by the coroner earlier in the day), she sat down to plan out her next moves. She knew exactly who was behind this cold blooded murder and she was determined to confront them.

-x-

He was working quietly at his desk, busy typing up the report that Esme would no doubt require before the end of the day when he saw her. Bella had clearly been crying (he could see the tear tracks down her cheeks) her eyes were red and puffy. He stood up and made to approach her but she didn't give him any sign of acknowledgement. She just continued in her quest, heading straight for Esme's office where she didn't stop to knock before throwing the door open with a bang and shutting it with equal force.

-x-

Esme looked up briefly from her computer screen when she heard the door open but looked straight back down again when she saw Bella storm in. Her plan was to ignore the stupid young girl and give her some time to calm down before she addressed the issue at hand. However, what Esme failed to realize was that Bella had been working for her long enough to know exactly what she was doing and she was in no mood for her games.

With a quick sweep of her arms Bella shoved the computer and all of the other files and stationary on Esme's desk to the floor. She then slammed her palms onto the empty desk and demanded the attention of the woman in front of her.

"Look. At. Me. Bitch"

Esme took her time raising her head. She was determined not to allow Bella to control the situation. Esme Platt was no one's puppet.

"Isabella, what can I do for you today?" Esme was sickly sweet in her tone and it just served to infuriate Bella more.

"You!" Bella spat looking her mentor up and down. "I don't even know who you are. You were like a mother to me. You take me shopping, out for lunch, you took me in when I had nowhere to live, you gave me a job, put me through college. Are you even the same person? How could you be so fucking cruel?"

Esme knew that Bella's question was rhetorical but she answered anyway. It was a way for her to take control, for her to put Bella in her place.

"You were made aware of the rules when you signed your contract; were you not Agent Swan?" Esme left no time for Bella to answer her. "You knew the consequences should you choose to break those rules. You gave me no choice. You leaked information about this agency. I needed to contain that leak. You are lucky that you were spared; I had to fight with the security division to deviate from the norm. You are our best agent! I couldn't let them terminate your contract so I did the next best thing. I'm sorry, Isabella, but Angela had to be dealt with."

Being their best agent, Bella could tell that Esme was lying through her teeth. She had been blinded before. Esme had been like a mother to her and Bella could now see how those feelings had clouded her judgment of the Twilight boss. Now she knew the truth and she wasn't going to be deceived by her feelings ever again.

"I'm afraid there will be some consequences for your actions," Esme continued. "A psych evaluation will be carried out before you leave this facility. You will then be placed upon a four week suspension without pay after which you will be re-instated as a desk agent for a following two weeks before being placed back in the field as an operations officer. Are there any questions?"

During Esme's reprimand, Bella was silently working through a few puzzles of her own. A lot of questions had been raised in her mind as to how the American government could justify the killing of an innocent. Nothing added up and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

While Bella stood in quiet contemplation, Esme called for security to escort her down to their in house psychologist, Dr Banner. It was not the first time Bella had seen Banner and it wouldn't be her last. But she knew the guy had sadistic tendencies so she was determined to keep her growing suspicions locked up tight until she was away from him.

After three hours in of relentless questioning about her loyalty to her agency, about who else she had told about her job and about her general mental health, Banner reluctantly released Bella.

-x-

He wrote precisely and accurately on the page in front of him. From the outside it looked like gibberish but he knew she would understand. She had used the very same cipher text on her first missions with him eight years ago. He knew he was taking a risk in what he would be telling her but he also knew that she now suspected something about her employer, the same way he had three years ago. Now he just had to get the message to her.

As he saw her leaving Dr Banner's office he put his plan into motion, rising from his desk and heading her way. He had to be as discreet as possible.

She kept her head down, not wishing to see or speak to anyone right now. It was the only reason she didn't see him coming. His left shoulder hit her right as they passed.

"I'm sorry, Agent Swan," she nodded her acceptance not even bothering to see who it was that had bumped into her, before pushing the door open and leaving the building.

She didn't notice the letter that had been tucked into her jacket pocket.

-x-

She had been driving aimlessly for hours, not yet ready to face the mess that waited at home for her to clean, or the memories that would assault her senses as soon as she pushed open Angela's door.

That's how she found herself at his door. She needed the comfort that only he could bring her. They had always been close, but since Bella had moved away for school, their time together had lessened over the years, especially with the strain that both of their jobs had put upon their free time. Now, Bella found herself needing him more than ever.

-x-

He had just finished showering after a twelve hour shift and was just about to grab a beer when he heard three sharp raps on his front door. He sighed to himself, wondering who it could be at that hour and ambled down the hall. When he swung the door open all of his breath left him in a sharp whoosh as he gazed at the young woman he hadn't seen since Christmas.

"Bella, what are you doing here?"

"Daddy," was all she managed to squeeze out before she collapsed to her knees on the porch.

-x-

Charlie Swan was a very introverted person; he kept to himself enjoying the smaller pleasures in life such as watching the sun rise over his fishing boat on a Saturday morning and seeing a full moon suspended amongst the starry sky as he was out and about late at night. He was also a man who knew how to compartmentalize his emotions, it was one of the first things he had been taught in the academy, and it was what made him rise to the position of Police Chief at such a young age.

However, Charlie could not compartmentalize where his daughter was concerned. Bella was everything to the usually cool and collected officer and seeing his daughter break in front of him had Charlie's heart breaking. He was already planning ways in which to hunt down who ever had hurt her and dispose of them accordingly.

He walked back into the lounge to see Bella in the same spot he had deposited her on only minutes earlier. Wrapping the blanket he had retrieved around her shoulders, he pulled his beloved daughter into his arms and waited for her to speak.

When she finally broke the silence, the two words she uttered broke Charlie's composure further.

"Angela's dead."

Charlie had met Angela numerous times over the course of her eight year friendship with his daughter. He had come to think of Angela as a second daughter, she came over for the Super bowl, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthdays. He knew that Bella had come to think of her as more of a sister than a friend and her death was both shocking and devastating to him.

"How?" was the only word he managed to croak out between silent tears.

"She was murdered," Bella whispered. She knew she needed to be careful with how much she told Charlie. She couldn't lose him the same way she had lost Angela, but she also struggled with lying to her father. He could always tell when she was keeping the truth from him.

Charlie was startled at the words that left his daughter's mouth. Who would ever want to hurt Angela? He just couldn't believe it. He pulled away from Bella slightly to get a good look at her. She was telling the truth, which shocked him more.

"Why? Who would want to hurt Angela?"

Bella kept her head down and opted to tell her father a half truth. "The police think she found out something she wasn't supposed to know. I guess she was killed to keep her quiet." Charlie didn't need to know that it was Bella who had gotten her killed.

Charlie was reeling. He had heard the words Bella had spoken but he was struggling to take them in. What had Angela gotten herself into? Finally, one thought broke through the rest and launched him into a full on panic. "Are you in any danger? Did she tell you? Are they coming for you Bella?"

"No. Dad. I'm ok. I just needed a place to stay; I can't go back to that apartment and see her blood everywhere."

Bella's words calmed Charlie and he pulled her close once again, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. "Of course you can stay here baby, I miss having you around."

Charlie's words warmed her from the inside and Bella gladly hugged her father tighter, drifting off in the safety of his arms.

While she was asleep Charlie made a few calls, inquiring about the death of his daughter's best friend. After pulling a few strings he managed to have a copy of the initial findings including the autopsy report sent to the station. He was certain that he wouldn't want to see Angela that way but he couldn't just stand by without helping. He knew from experience that a fresh set of eyes could change everything. He would be certain to review every word of that file carefully.

-x-

When she woke, it was in the familiar surroundings of her childhood bedroom. Her father had carried her up to bed to allow her a chance to rest comfortably. Bella could hear the familiar sound of his faint snores coming from his room down the hall.

She stretched slightly, wincing at the ache in her muscles before deciding to take a hot shower. She crept quietly across the hall and into the bathroom before starting up the water. While she was waiting for it to heat up, she began slowly stripping out of her clothes. She pulled her jacket off first, draping it across the back of the seat. It wasn't until she had removed her dress that she noticed the small, folded piece of paper on the floor. It had obviously fluttered out of her pocket but she didn't recognize it. On one side was a map of a warehouse district just outside of San Francisco and on the other side was a block of cipher text that had been hand written.

l

A

a

l

s

i

T

a

N

i

c

e

l

I

o

U

p

y

l

h

E

e

F

t

m

e

m

E

a

T

a

y

d

r

I

e

R

n

h

o

n

O

q

X

g

k

b

e

V

Bella immediately recognized the style, having used it many times before on missions but without the two key words it would take her forever to crack it. She placed the note to the side and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water wash away all of the hurt, pain and confusion that had been brewing inside of her all day. "Tomorrow" she told herself. Tomorrow she would worry about it, tonight she would sleep.

Her mind, however, wouldn't allow her to sleep. She couldn't stop the barrage of questions that had formed since she found that note. Who had given it to her? When had they got it there? What if they knew something about Angela's death?

Plagued by these thoughts she made her way over to the small desk placed in front of the only window in the room. She smoothed out the note once again and pulled a legal pad and pen out of the top draw. She knew it was a transposition cipher, most likely a double transposition if it came from someone inside of the agency.

She started by examining text. She knew it had to have come from someone inside the agency, it was structured into seven columns and Esme always insisted on using seven (it was her lucky number). She then began making a list of all of the possible combinations she had used since beginning at the agency.

She became more and more frustrated with every combination she tried. There were forty seven of them and the rate at which she was going it would take her all night to find which one, if any, fit.

Her forty second try was using the words 'isogram' and 'country'. These had been used when she went undercover for sixteen days at a Russian embassy to try and retrieve a nuclear weapon they had been developing. She had used this combination along with two others to pass messages back to the agency.

Bella scratched down the first transposition quickly but accurately and then moved on to the second. When she was done, she could see a clear message evolving and she gasped when the realization had set in as to who had sent the message.

Its/all/a/lie/I/can/help/you/meet/me/Friday/at/noon/here

-x-

"Aro Volturi, please," she waited penitently for the line to be connected, and only spoke when it did. "This is Esme Platt, sir."

Aro had been expecting this call and it was the reason why he was to endure the wrath of his wife when he finally made it home from the office. He had never met Isabella Swan personally but he had heard a great many things about her. She was one of their best agents and he could foresee a very bright future for her and the agency. It was just a shame she felt the need to expose them to her friend.

"How can I help you, Miss Platt?"

"I spoke to Isabella Swan today sir. She knows we were behind the killing of her friend, she..." Aro cut her off sharply. He knew Esme's opinions on her and he was frankly bored of listening to them.

"As she should, Miss Platt. Agent Swan is a very intelligent young woman, not to mention a fine agent in this organization. You should have known that she would have put the pieces together."

"Sir, I still feel that she is a liability to this agency, a liability that should be terminated," Esme argued.

"Absolutely not and that is final. We will not be having this conversation again Miss Platt. As far as we are concerned, Project Swan remains active." With that final declaration, Aro hung up the phone and left the office to try and salvage what was left of his wedding anniversary.

**A/N **

**If you want to know how to solve the cipher follow these steps. **

**Take the word Country and arrange the letters into alphabetical order, assigning a corresponding number to each letter for example C=1. **

**Label each column with its number. **

**Rearrange the columns so that they now spell out the word country. **

**Repeat the first three steps with the word Isogram now in place of country and you should end up with the original block text I started with. The message can be read across from left to right with six null characters at the very end. **

**If you would like to see the worked example PM me you email and I will be happy to send it to you. **

**I owe many thanks to Meadow and her hubby for being the very best betas. This would be nowhere near as good without their input. **

**I also owe many thanks to Decie for being there to listen to all of my rambling over twitter when I need some guidance. **

**Thanks for Reading.  
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	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 4

To anyone else it would have seemed like just two strangers at the grocery store, meeting over the fruit and veggie aisle. But he knew better; this was hiding in plain sight. Neither of them looked up to acknowledge each other as they spoke in hushed voices.

"You said this was important," the blonde turned towards the cantaloupes to her left and proceeded to hunt for the ripest one available.

"Yes, I thought you should know Angela Webber is dead." He continued further down the aisle, selecting a bunch of grapes and apples to add to his half full cart.

"I'm sorry, why are you telling me this?" She may have been whispering but he could hear the frustration and confusion lacing her tone.

"She was Isabella Swan's best friend. Rumour has it, when she moved in, Bella told her she worked for the agency and Esme had her killed."

The blonde definitely perked up at this. From what she had been told, Isabella was a promising agent, one they could use in the fight against The Volturi. There had been talk at the office about bringing her into the fight but nobody had found the leverage as of yet. "How much do you think she knows?"

They proceeded down towards the fresh meats aisle and he chose his next words carefully. "Bella is bright. She was too blinded by Esme's affection for her before but she won't be now. She will already be putting the pieces together; all she needs is the missing chunk."

"And you think she will be up for this? You can't thrust her into this life. She needs to choose it willingly, just like you did."

"She will. She's determined. The reason she joined the agency in the first place is because of what happened to her mother. She would never admit it outright but I can see it behind her eyes every time we sit in that briefing room to receive our assignments. She will do it for Angela if not for any other reason. I think we need to give her a chance."

"And what if she blows your cover? What then?" The blonde may have been asking all of the right questions but they were for the wrong reasons. She had her own selfish reasons for wanting to bring The Volturi to justice and at the moment her best chance at doing so was busy selecting chicken fillets.

"Well if she does, then I will pay the consequences for my actions. I trust Bella with my life in _all _situations."

She was out of arguments now. This was the break they had been waiting for and she knew it. As long as he was sure, she was willing to take the punt.

"Ok, show her what we have and see what she says. I will contact you after." She didn't look back as she continued her walk down the aisle towards the frozen produce and the cookie dough ice cream she loved.

-x-

Charlie wasn't surprised to find his daughter hunched over a cup of coffee at five am the following day. He had heard her tossing and turning all evening. If he didn't have obligations to the community he would have taken the day off to be with her, but as it stood, his deputy Mark was in Florida visiting his daughter and he was the only one available to cover the morning shift. He also needed that time to check over Angela's file and he knew if he brought it home with him Bella would find it, no matter where he hid it. She was too much like her mother.

"Morning dad," Bella broke him out of his spiralling thoughts with her greeting and offered him coffee. Charlie accepted gratefully but not before pulling her into his arms and kissing the crown of her head.

"Morning baby. I need to go in this morning but Arthur will be taking over from me at one. Do you want me to pick up lunch before I come home?"

Bella had to swallow past the lump in her throat to answer her father. As much as she knew he loved her, he hadn't taken time off work in almost ten years and she appreciated the gesture. "How about I meet you at the lodge? I need to call Ben before he freaks out and then start looking for a new apartment."

Charlie wasn't surprised his daughter would want to move. He knew himself what it felt like to be constantly confronted with memories of lost loved ones. Charlie nodded his head in understanding and gave his daughter one last hug before heading out of the door towards his cruiser.

-x-

The gentle ringing of his cell phone brought him out of his vivid dreams and crashing back to reality. He didn't know which was worse, the dreams that taunted him with what could have been or the crushing reality that they would never be.

"Hello," he had been avoiding most of his calls since he found out Angela was dead and Bella had gone off the grid, but something told him this was the call to answer.

"Ben," his name was just a whisper as her grief welled up inside of her but he heard her loud and clear.

"Oh my God, Bella, where have you been? I've been going crazy, you wouldn't answer your cell and you weren't at the apartment," Ben had gone through many emotions after the police had called and told him of Angela's death. At first he was angry, so very angry, at the person who had done this, at Bella for not telling him herself, at the police for how they were treating him. However, as the hours had passed and he had had more time to process what he'd been told, Ben began to worry. It wasn't like Bella to just disappear, even when she had to work. She would always find a way to leave a message.

"I'm so sorry Ben. I wanted to call; I should have called but I just couldn't. I needed some time to clear my head. I didn't mean to scare you."

Ben had always thought of Bella as being strong and independent, but he could hear the vulnerability in her tone. This had affected Bella harder than he had ever seen before and any remaining traces of anger he held disappeared as he heard her sob gently across the line.

"It's ok, Bells; I understand. Where are you? I came by the apartment but it was locked up."

"I'm in Forks, at my dad's. I couldn't go back there after what had happened, so I started driving and somehow I ended up here."

Even though she couldn't see him, Ben nodded before he spoke. "I understand. If you need a place to stay when you get back to San Francisco you can stay with me."

"Thanks, Ben; I appreciate that. I will start apartment hunting this afternoon. Have you heard from Angela's parents?" Ben could hear the worry in Bella's tone. He knew her well enough to know she would feel guilty for just running away and not telling the Webbers what had happened herself.

"Yeah, they're not mad at you Bella; they're worried, just like I am. They love you like a daughter. That's never going to change. They... um," Ben cleared his throat to dislodge the lump that had formed there and tried again. "They wanted me to tell you that her funeral is on Friday morning. Ten am."

"I'll be there."

-x-

Charlie had been staring at the manila file in front of him for over twenty minutes before he plucked up the courage to open it. Once he did, he wished he hadn't. The first thing he saw were twelve, incredibly graphic autopsy photographs showing the three bullets that had been fired into Angela's body, execution style, two to the chest, one between the eyes. The next set of photographs weren't any better. They detailed every little thing from the clean door and window handles that had been dusted for prints to Angela's body, lying between bloodied sheets on the bed in the spare room that he himself had slept in when visiting his daughter in California.

He couldn't help but cry when he realized that this would forever be the way his daughter would remember last seeing her best friend, but it also filled him with a determination to help the San Francisco Police Department find the person responsible for hurting his baby girl.

Charlie had combed the reports three times, analyzing each individual word carefully to make sure he didn't miss anything. There were forensic reports that stated that although there was no clear sign of a break-in, the fact that the door handle had been wiped clean on both sides, leaving only Bella's prints to open it indicated that it was an outside job. The lack of evidence, witnesses and the type of execution pointed towards a trained killer, possibly with a military background.

The police reports indicated that they suspected, due to the nature of the crime, that Angela had discovered something that she shouldn't have found out and that was why she was killed. Because of this, they seized all of her electronic devices and her diary to see if there was some indication as to what that information was.

There were detailed interviews with Ben Cheney about what had happened over the weekend, confirming Bella's story and also indicating that he had spent the rest of the evening with Angela watching films after Bella left. Another with Emmett McCarty confirming that he and Bella had been in New York that weekend after a client of theirs had their home broken into. He couldn't disclose any more information for the sake of confidentiality but the police had no reason to suspect either Emmett or Bella. There was also two other interviews with Eric Yorkie and Jessica Stanley. Apparently, Angela had caught them sleeping together and that is why she had left, but the police had no reason to suspect either of them were involved. They had alibis for the time of the murder and neither of them would know where to hire a professional hitman.

Basically, the reports were useless and unless the technical department at SFPD could turn up some information on Angela's laptop or cell phone they had reached a dead end. Charlie was frustrated, this was definitely a professional hit and the police had nothing that would lead them to the culprit without that information. That meant that there was no way for Charlie to help out in this investigation.

Not unless Angela had mentioned something to Bella.

-x-

When Charlie entered the Lodge diner at a little after one that day Bella was already sitting at a booth, a laptop in front of her and a diet cola in her left hand. Charlie nodded to the waitress to indicate he would like his usual black coffee and then slid into the booth opposite Bella.

"What are you doing sweetheart?" Charlie peeked curiously around the laptop to see a site listing homes for sale in San Francisco.

"Looking for a new place to live," Bella replied, lifting her eyes to meet her father's. He smiled gently as a waitress placed his coffee in front of him.

"What are you going to do about the apartment? I can always come back with you for the funeral and then pack everything up if you don't want to go back," Bella was touched by her father's concern. He was offering to go back to that place for her and essentially pack up her life.

"How about a compromise; will you help me pack everything up? Ben says Angela's funeral is Friday"

"Of course."

With that final declaration, father and daughter settled down to find Bella a new home in California.

-x-

On Thursday afternoon, Charlie put his suitcase into the back of Bella's Audi and slid into the passenger's seat. The drive from Forks to San Francisco would take about thirteen hours non-stop and it worried Charlie to think that his daughter had made that drive alone on the day her best friend had died. Pushing aside worries of what could have been, he turned the radio on and quickly selected a station he knew that they'd both like.

The journey back to California was comfortable for both of them. Charlie took the time to catch up on what he had missed in his daughter's life. He noticed that she held back on the subject of her job but that was nothing new. Bella had never been overly chatty when it came to Platt's Brokers. She did talk animatedly about her partner Emmett and his many antics. Charlie had never met him before but he hoped that he would this time.

In return, Bella asked plenty of questions about Charlie's job, the new family that had moved to town and how his friendships on the reservation were progressing. Between the two of them, they managed to make it to San Francisco by midnight. Charlie checked them into The Palace Hotel while Bella used the hotel resources to check on how far away she was from the warehouse area that had been pictured on the map in her pocket.

This was the first time she had allowed herself to think about it since she had worked out who it was that had left the message for her. She had pushed aside all of her concerns about Esme and the Twilight division to spend time with her father. But now that they were back in California she knew she would have to face them head on and the best way to do that was to meet him tomorrow after Angela's funeral.

-x-

Neither Charlie or Bella slept well that evening and when they met in the lobby of the hotel both could see dark circles forming under the other's eyes. Bella's were slightly better concealed than her father's because of the make-up she had applied but they were there none the less.

Bella had only seen her father this well dressed once before but she quickly shook aside those thoughts. He was rather handsome in his black suit, black shirt and black tie. He looked very uncomfortable but he owed it to Angela to make the effort. Bella herself was dressed in a simple black dress, black pumps and a long black trench coat.

There were no words that would make this situation any better for either of them. So instead they hugged each other tightly until the clock behind the desk read nine forty, and then they headed to the parking lot in silence.

The journey to Mission Dolores Church was filled with silence but it wasn't awkward. Charlie sensed that his daughter needed this time to compose herself, and he was using the quiet to try and organize his racing thoughts. If Angela had said something to Bella, something that Bella wouldn't have given a second thought to, then his daughter may be in trouble too.

-x-

Emmett McCarty had been pacing back and forth outside of the church for twenty minutes when he saw her white Audi pull into the parking lot. He straightened his shoulders and walked towards her pausing briefly when he noticed a gentleman who could only have been her father step out of the passenger's side.

This was not the way Emmett had ever envisioned meeting Charlie Swan but he took it all in stride, first hugging Bella and telling her how sorry he was for her loss before straightening up and offering his hand to her father.

"Emmett McCarty, Sir. I'm sorry to meet under such circumstances." Charlie took Emmett's hand while sizing him up. Bella had often spoken of him and, other than Ben, he was the only man in her life. He wondered if this would grow beyond their professional relationship. But now, with Emmett in front of him, he could see it never would. The way that Emmett looked at Bella radiated brotherly concern; there was nothing romantic about it.

"Charlie Swan. It's nice to finally meet you." Charlie meant every word. Even though it was at the worst possible time, he was glad to finally meet the man that travelled the length of the country with his daughter.

Emmett nodded twice and stepped aside. He didn't know what to say, now was not the time to launch into a get to know you session and there was nothing he could say to Bella that would take away the pain she was feeling. So instead, he just stood awkwardly at Bella's side as she caught the gaze of Ben.

As soon as he saw her, Ben came rushing over to wrap her in his embrace. The two friends spoke in hushed murmurs whispering how sorry they were and how they blamed each other for her death. Ben protested that he should have stayed with Angela while Bella just blamed herself with no reasoning. Ben thought nothing of it in his state of grief.

When Ben finally released Bella, it was into the arms of Stephan and Julia Webber, Angela's parents. They had spotted the two friends locked in an embrace and had immediately made their way towards them. As Bella and Julia cried together Charlie took the chance to offer his condolences to Stephan.

All too soon the group had to split to take their places in the funeral procession.

Bella's sight was far too clouded by her tears to notice the late arrival that slipped into the back during Ben's reading.

-x-

Rosalie Hale sat at her desk, reviewing the latest file they had been given on The Volturi. Unfortunately, even with the latest update from her informant, they were still no closer to tracking down the brothers themselves or the remaining fourteen cells hidden across the world. She sighed to herself, as she pushed aside the file and began to type up her report for the Director.

She only stopped typing four hours later when there was a knock on her office door. A young man poked his head through the door, smiling nervously as she raised her eyes to his. "Sorry to disturb you, Miss Hale, but I have those reports you asked for on Esme Platt." He gently placed a stack of folders neatly onto the edge of her desk.

"Thank you; I'll get right to them," was all she said as she moved her eyes from the sparkling greens in front of her, to the computer screen on her desk.

He took that as his cue to leave.

-x-

He had been pacing back and forth for twenty minutes before the door slid open and she walked inside, closing the umbrella in her right hand before using the same hand to slide the door closed behind her. At the first sight of her he began worrying he had made a huge mistake in arranging this meeting for today. She stood before him in all black, her hair swept back into a ponytail and minimal make-up. It didn't take the three degree's he had received from Harvard to realize that she had come straight from Angela's funeral.

"I'm sorry for bringing you out here today," he began. She dismissed his concerns quickly with a wave of her hand. The moment she had stepped into that warehouse, she had become the cool, calm and collected Agent Swan and had left behind the girl she was an hour ago burying her best friend.

"It's ok; let's just get to the point. I have a wake to get back to. Is it clean?" She gestured around herself at the wide, empty space they stood in. He nodded once, indicating that he had already performed a bug sweep and that she should continue. "Your message said It's all a lie. What do you mean by that?"

He cleared his throat before he began speaking. He had always admired her work and attitude but he had never been alone in a room with her like this before. Her beauty was a little intimidating this close. "Three years ago I was busy testing a program we had developed at the agency to hack into that Iraqi guy's system and I stumbled across some files I wasn't meant to see."

He paused briefly just to hand over a manila envelope which Bella took from him with shaking hands. As she began pulling out pages from inside, he continued his story. "They have been lying to us, Bella. Esme has been lying to us. We don't work for the CIA; we never have. We work for a group known as The Volturi. They are using us to do their dirty work. We are the terrorists we thought we were fighting."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but here was the proof in her hands. He had provided her with detailed reports from Esme to some "Aro Volturi" about the missions that Bella herself had been a part of. There were other reports about the technology and weapons she had acquired and how they could be used for future missions that Bella had never been a part of but had seen the consequences of on the news.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, Bella, but I think Esme is trying to kill you. She was the one who ordered your communication lines to be switched off in New York. I was there; I was the one she gave that order to. I am fed up of being alone in this and after everything you have just been through I thought you, of all people, deserved the truth." With this statement he handed her the last piece of paper he had prepared for her. "This is the address of the California branch of the CIA. Go to them and ask to speak to Deputy Director Cullen. He can tell you everything and if you want to fight this fight, he can help you. He helped me."

Although he was being cryptic enough, Bella understood what he was saying. He was a double agent, and he was offering her the chance to join him in this fight. She took a few deep breaths to clear her head and then asked herself the biggest question forming in her mind: _Could she do this?_ As soon as the question flashed in her mind it was followed by an image of Angela's lifeless body that terrible morning. _Yes!_ She could do this and she would do it.

For Angela.

He knew the moment she had reached her decision; he could see the resolve harden her eyes. No more words needed to be spoken between them. Everything that could be said had been. He watched her walk towards the steel door at the far end of the room and turned to gather his belongings.

She stopped just before she reached the door, smiling to herself, knowing that she wasn't in this alone. "Oh, Jasper," he turned back to face her at the sound of his name. "See you at work."

And with that she was gone.

**A/N **

**If you want to know more about the Palace Hotel you can find it here http:/www(dot)sfpalace(dot)com/gallery**

**The same goes for the Mission Dolores Church http:/www(dot)sanfranciscocemeteries(dot)com/MsnDlrs(dot)html**

**I owe massive thanks to Elli this week for helping me with San Francisco places and landmarks. **

**I also owe big thanks to Mr and Mrs Meadow who spent their Friday Night Date Night Betaing this for me. **

**I can't express enough how much thanks I owe to Decie this week for both her guidance and support but also for the reccomendation she gave to this story on Twific reviews and the beautiful banner she created for me. Both can be found on the link below**

**http:/twificreviewsa-z(dot)blogspot(dot)com/2011/09/activation-project-swan-by(dot)html**

**Thank you all for reading. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 5

When he arrived back from a late lunch with his girlfriend, Edward found a new file on his desk. He knew it had been placed there by someone else because it wasn't a part of the system he was using to organize the ones in use on his desk. A quick glance at the label on the side told him it was left by Rosalie Hale's assistant so he quickly sat his bottle of Dr Pepper on his coaster, shut and locked the door and took his seat behind his desk.

Edward had been working on The Volturi case ever since he'd joined the agency four years ago and had become somewhat of an expert on the group in his time. He worked hard to make sure he knew everything there was to know about not only the brothers themselves but their divisions, guards, employees, covers, missions and allies. He hoped this would help convince the Director to put him into the field. He had taken the field training two years ago but the Director had always told him that he needed to be more prepared.

Pulling the file to him, Edward opened his own notes on The Volturi and then looked down to Rosalie's. She had left a detailed analysis of her last meeting with Jasper Whitlock where he had spoken about what had happened to Isabella Swan and how he thought it was time to bring her into the fold.

Over the years, Isabella's name had come up quite a few times in his research. Although he had no idea what she looked like, Edward had built up a quiet appreciation for her. She was a remarkable agent; that much was very clear from Jasper's reports on her missions. She appeared to be unaware of her true employers and the recent tragedy would support this information. She was also fiercely loyal, to her friends, her father and to her employer. Or at least she was.

The next item in Rosalie's file was a digital recording made earlier in the day. Edward hit play on the small device and a tinny recording began with Jasper apologising. The quality was terrible; Edward could hear the echoes which indicated that it had been made in a large, open space.

The next voice on the tape shocked Edward. He thought it would be Rosalie, giving Jasper a new assignment but this voice was nothing like the cool and icy tone Rosalie Hale always adopted. He could tell that whoever was speaking was a professional, he could also pick up on slight undercurrents of vulnerability. Although he had never heard her voice before, Edward knew immediate who this was. Jasper had brought Isabella Swan into play.

He listened to the recording four times, making detailed notes about not only the dialogue spoken but the tone in which it was spoken and suggestions for what was going on in the background. He then submitted his report to the Director.

Feeling happy with the afternoon's developments, Edward decided to call it an early day. Packing up the files on Newton Industries that he was working on and heading to the underground parking lot.

-x-

While Edward was finishing up for the day Rosalie was sitting outside the office of the Director. She knew that he would have questions for her and she also knew he was making her sweat a little. His assistant had told her he was on the phone but Rosalie could see that the line was free whenever she glanced at the phone on Heidi's desk.

"Agent Hale, follow me," she startled slightly at the sound of her name, not realizing that she had slipped into her own thoughts. She rose gracefully to her feet and followed the blonde haired man into his office. He gestured to one of the leather tube chairs in front of his desk without looking at her and as she sat, he made his way over to the printer on the far left wall.

"Agent Hale, I received a very interesting report this afternoon about your asset, Mr Whitlock." Rosalie plastered the best false smile she could muster on her face as the Director took his own seat. "Care to explain to me why you authorized the induction of Isabella Swan without my expressed permission."

The Director was known for his direct manner and Rosalie had prepared for this. But when confronted with him face to face she forgot every argument she had prepared.

"Listen, Rosalie," The Director softened his tone, and his appearance. Now he looked more like a concerned father than the head of a government facility. "I know you want The Volturi taken care of, I know what they have taken from you and I know you want revenge. But you cannot go around authorizing these kinds of things without my permission. If this goes south I will have no choice but to relieve you of your badge and gun. As it is, I am willing to give this a shot because I think Isabella Swan may be our best shot yet at taking these bastards down but you will have to face the consequences of your actions. I will not permit you to sit in on any of Isabella's induction screenings if she comes in. I will also be suspending you from active duty for a month without pay. Jasper will report to Agent Francis during that time. Are there any questions?"

Rosalie shook her head remorsefully. The meeting had gone well all things considered. While she would be out of duty for a month it wouldn't be too hard to catch up and she had what she truly wanted, a field agent on the inside. She stood slowly, extending her hand to the man in front of her. "Thank you, Director Cullen."

The Director bobbed his head once, already signing her suspension forms as she exited the room.

-x-

As Charlie brought Bella a glass of single malt whiskey from the mini-bar in her room, she sat silently reliving the last few hours of her crazy life. She had returned from her meeting with Jasper feeling as light as a feather. She now had a way to help bring justice to those responsible for taking Angela away from her. However, her good mood promptly vanished when she saw the She-Devil herself talking with her father.

She strode as quickly as she could over to the two of them, slipping back into the role of a grieving friend, whilst keeping her guard up. Charlie noticed his daughter's approach and took a slight step to his left, not completely shutting out Esme, but making a clear path for his daughter. Bella seized her opportunity and walked into her father's arms.

"How are you feeling baby?" he whispered.

She squeezed his waist slightly tighter before she answered. "Better now thanks. I just needed to clear my head." Charlie nodded in understanding and then turned back to the sympathetic woman stood elegantly to the side. "Esme was just offering her condolences," he explained.

"Really, I didn't think you knew Angela all that well," Bella smiled sweetly. She was working hard to swallow back the bile that rose in her throat as Esme batted her eyelashes at Charlie.

"I knew everything I needed to know about her from you Isabella. It doesn't matter that we only met a handful of times. You were suffering so I wanted to offer my support." Charlie nodded in appreciation while Bella was fighting back her anger.

"Esme, can I have a word with you?" She asked, her voice shaking a little from the effort. Esme politely excused herself while Bella stormed across the hall and out of the front door.

"What the Hell do you think you are playing at?" As soon as they were free of prying ears Bella whirled on her.

"Just making sure you are sticking to the rules," Esme immediately dropped her act as she glared down at the stupid little girl in front of her. "I would hate for Charlie to meet the same fate as your friend did."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Esme found her back pressed to the harsh brick wall behind her, Bella's left arm slowly cutting off her oxygen supply as it pressed down onto her windpipe.

"If you touch Charlie, I will kill you," she snarled.

The sound of the door hinges creaking brought her out of her haze and she quickly released Esme. The older woman straightened up to her full height and pulled a piece of paper from her jacket. She threw it at Bella before sliding on her sunglasses and walking a few paces away.

"Make sure his investigation stops here, Isabella. This is your last warning. Management won't tolerate this kind of behavior much longer." She left Bella standing in the doorway reading over the request for a copy of Angela Webber's file to be sent to Fork's police station.

The dipping of the bed brought Bella out of her memories and back to the present. Charlie passed her the glass silently and waited for Bella to speak. She took two small sips before turning to face her father.

"Dad, are you looking into Angela's case?" Charlie wasn't sure what he was expecting but it definitely wasn't this. He took a deep gulp of his own drink before answering his daughter.

"I just wanted to see if I could help Bells. I didn't mean to offend you." Bella took the opening Charlie had given her and ran with it.

"Please dad, I don't want you involved in this. Leave it to SFPD to solve this case; I don't want to lose my father again." Charlie sighed softly and pulled his daughter into his side.

"I promise I won't get involved."

-x-

Bella entered the large building feeling only slightly apprehensive. She hoped that he would believe her. But until then she knew she could be arrested for treason and she didn't like what she had heard of Guantanamo Bay.

As she approached the desk, the secretary looked up and smiled politely in Bella's direction. "Hello and welcome to the California Branch of the CIA, how may I help you?"

"I'm here to see your Director; is he available?" Bella really didn't feel like explaining her position to this fake blonde in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Director Cullen is busy; can I help you?" was her learned response.

Bella sighed deeply, taking the time to ponder her explanation before replying. "Can you tell him he has a walk-in from the Twilight Division of The Volturi Organization?"

The secretary gasped at the words "Volturi Organization" and asked for a moment while she phoned through to the Director's office. She had never actually spoken to him before so when his personal assistant put her through, it took her a few minutes to gather her composure.

"Hello, Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you but there is a young woman in the lobby who says she has come from the Twilight Division of The Volturi Organization. What should I do?"

The Director spoke only three words before the line went dead.

The secretary left her position behind the desk to come around and stand besides Bella. "Would you follow me please?" She began walking down a long corridor headed towards a set of elevators against the far wall. Bella walked quickly, keeping her head down, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She still didn't know who she could trust and didn't want to run the risk of there being another existing double inside the CIA.

-x-

He was unusually busy that morning with Rosalie on suspension. He'd already been out to Sacramento to take multiple statements on a suspected bombing attempt. As he pulled into the underground parking garage of the California Branch of the CIA, he took a moment to repeat his daily mantra: "I will be a better agent."

Climbing out of his car, he loaded his arms with the files on his seat and used his foot to kick the car door shut. He then navigated his way through the parking garage towards the elevators situated against the left hand side wall. As deftly as he could manage, he balanced all of his files in his left hand and used the right to call the elevator down to him.

The lonely ride up to the lobby was uneventful, so he took that time to reflect upon the date he had been on the night before. It was his forth date with Kate and although they still had plenty to find out about each other, he liked what he had seen so far. He was so lost in thoughts of planning their lunch date for Sunday that his mind went on autopilot, carrying him out of the elevator and down the corridor, headed towards the row of executive elevators that would take him to his office on the fifth floor.

Just as he was about to turn to his left to make for those elevators something soft and warm hit him square in the chest, sending all of his files fluttering to the floor. He automatically reached out to steady himself and when he looked down, found that his hands were resting on the top of a set of shoulders. Those shoulders were covered by a tight, black shirt but he could feel the power in the muscle beneath them. Working his way down, his sight next landed on a pair of perfect breasts, not too small, not too big, and nestled tightly against the fabric of the black shirt stretched across them. Further down his gaze landed on the gentle flair of her hips, framed by the end of her shirt and the beginning of the tight black jeans she was wearing. He next took in the powerful legs hidden by those jeans. He could tell that while the owner had a distinctly feminine shape, she had muscle and power hidden in that figure and she would be a force to reckon with. Finally his gaze lifted and he found himself staring into the most intense set of coffee colored eyes he had ever seen.

Bella was shocked out of her thoughts when she found herself in the arms of a man. She took a quick assessment of her surroundings. The people who occasionally stopped to look, saw the commotion the pair caused but continued on as usual. Then she looked up at him. He was taking the time to check her out and just as his eyes met hers, Bella reacted upon instinct, shifting her body away from his grasp, using his right arm to wrench it behind his back into an arm lock and finished the maneuver by sweeping his legs out from underneath him, settling herself onto his back, her knee pressing into the back of his neck.

Edward gasped and tried to work out what was happening to him. One minute he was looking into the eyes of the woman who he had run into, the next he was staring at the floor. He struggled, trying to pull himself away to find out what had happened to him.

"Can somebody tell me what is going on here?" Edward cringed, he knew exactly who had walked in on this incident and it definitely wouldn't do his career any good to be seen floored by a small woman.

Bella looked up into the eyes of the man towering above her and instantly recognized the situation for what it was. An accident. The receptionist was the first to speak and break the tension.

"I'm sorry Director Cullen; it's just a little misunderstanding that's all." Bella climbed off of the man's back and rose to offer him a hand getting up. Edward took the offer and, with her assistance, pulled himself to his feet to face his boss.

"I'm sorry; it was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going, Sir." Edward spoke first, trying to diffuse the tension in the air.

"No, It was my fault," Bella jumped in. "I was trying to keep my head down, Sir, I didn't see him," she gestured towards Edward in her attempt to explain herself.

Edward's eyes bulged at the sound of her voice. He had heard it only the day before on a dodgy recording of a meeting between Jasper Whitlock and Isabella Swan. The young woman was the Agent he so greatly admired. While Edward was slotting the pieces together in his head, the Director surveyed the scene in front of him. One of his Agents stood awkwardly having just been floored by the young woman to his left, the woman herself, unknown to him and the receptionist Mrs Cope who was batting her eyelashes at him. He turned to the unidentified woman first.

"I'm sorry; and you are?" He prompted.

"Isabella Swan, Sir," she answered. The Director stiffed immediately at the name. This was his walk-in. No more explanations were necessary.

"Of course, Miss Swan," he smiled tightly in her direction. "If you would follow Mrs Cope to the briefing room we will begin the process of taking your statement. I will be up shortly."

Both Bella and Mrs Cope knew that the Director's word was final so they continued on down towards the elevators at the end of the room. Once inside, Bella chanced a glance back at the man she had run into and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" before the doors slid shut.

As soon as the door closed and the elevator began to move, Director Cullen turned his attention towards Edward. "Care to explain to me what happened here?" He raised his left eyebrow, leaving no room for Edward to argue, not that he would.

"Sorry, Sir; it was just a little misunderstanding. We walked into each other and I'm guessing her instincts kicked in." Edward was a little intimidated. The Director nodded his head in understanding. He could see why Isabella would have reacted that way given her history. That being said, he couldn't help but wind up the young agent in front of him.

"So you really expect me to put you into the field after seeing you floored by a girl half your size?" Edward panicked at this comment. He knew the Director had been holding him back and he knew he would need to seize his chance with both hands and hold on for dear life. This encounter had definitely set him back.

Carlisle knew that Edward had lost himself in his own thoughts so he took the opportunity to slip away and up to the briefing room next to his own office.

When he finally made it inside he saw that everything had been set up for Isabella's statement but they had obviously waited for him to arrive before beginning. Only three other people were in the room and all of them with the highest clearance levels below Carlisle. The first was Maggie, a polygraph technician who was busy explaining how things would work to Isabella. She already had her connected to the polygraph machine they would be using. The second was his assistant, Heidi, who sat behind a laptop with a dictaphone, ready to record the process in both a written and audio fashion. Finally, the last person in the room was Senior Handler Liam Francis, who would be granted Isabella's case once he had gotten himself up to speed on all of the details involved in this case.

Carlisle took a seat next to the young woman who could blow The Volturi organization wide open, and turned towards her. "OK Miss Swan, we are going to start with a polygraph, we will be asking you questions about your involvement in The Volturi organization and don't be surprised if there are a few random questions thrown in there too. Then, after that process is complete, we will conduct an interview in which a written statement will be taken and evaluated. After we have the results of these back we, will give you direction from there. Do you have any questions?"

"No Sir," Bella stated confidently. She knew her information would have to be checked and double checked before she was considered an asset and she couldn't wait to begin. She needed to bring these people to justice. That was all that mattered to her now.

With a quick nod of his head, everyone in the room turned their attention to their equipment and to their subject – Isabella Swan. Carlisle picked up a list of questions that had been provided for him and began the long process ahead of them.

"Is your name Isabella Marie Swan?"

"Yes."

"Are you an employee of the Twilight Division?"

"Yes."

-x-

The process continued on for over three hours. Bella answering the entire 'yes' and 'no' questions thrown at her while others scribbled notes, assessed reactions and generally warmed to the young woman who had been through so much. Occasionally a question such as "Is Barrack Obama the President of The United States of America?" was thrown at her and Bella knew they were baseline questions which were the CIA's way of analyzing her reactions, to see if she was trying to cheat the polygraph.

Finally the process was over and Bella was moved to a more comfortable chair around the head of the conference table, where she was provided with snacks and drinks and Carlisle proceeded to listen to her history with Twilight.

She told the Director of how she had been approached, her induction to the agency, her first mission, every mission since then and who she had worked with and against, what she had collected for the group and what had been lost. Then she moved on to her reasons for telling Angela about her job, about the move and the mission in New York and finally about how she came home to find Angela dead in her bed.

It was only after she had finished her story that Carlisle asked his questions. He wanted to know if she had ever suspected that Twilight was not a part of the CIA, if she believed that anyone else knew of their true identity and how Esme had reacted when confronted over the death of Angela.

Finally, fourteen hours after she entered the office, all of the information had been collected and had been sent for assessment with the highest ranked analysts in the CIA. Carlisle sent Bella into his office to wait for the results and made a few phone calls, the first being to the nearest Pizza place for some food and the next to his baby sitter to warn her that he would be home late... again.

-x-

As she sat in his office waiting for him to re-enter she glanced around at the photos that lined the walls. There was one of the Director with a young, dark haired girl sat on his shoulders laughing. Bella presumed this was obviously a close relative. She had seen a wedding ring so maybe this was his daughter? The next image was one of the Director with the President of The United States, shaking hands. Another showed him with a beautiful bronze haired woman, smiling up at him. Bella presumed this to be his wife from the adoring gazes they both wore.

The final picture showed the Director with the bronze haired young man she ran into earlier in the hall, both standing in front of the CIA logo and both wearing sharp suits and even sharper smiles. It didn't take CIA training for Bella to know that this was obviously the Director's son, and he, like his father worked for the CIA. Bella found herself blushing as she realized she had practically assaulted the Director's son.

A throat clearing behind her brought her attention back to the room and to the reasons why she was here.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long Miss Swan, but we needed to confirm your story and you have given us a lot to go on," he smiled lightly at her to put her at ease but not so warmly that he would under mind the situation that brought Bella to his office. He gestured to the leather chair in front of his desk and Bella immediately sat. She noticed that the chair was rather hard and uncomfortable. Obviously the Director didn't have people in his office for long.

"The good news is that your statement has been thoroughly checked and your proposal evaluated. I can now officially welcome you to the CIA." Bella breathed a sigh of relief at this, she knew that her story needed to be evaluated but the longer she waited the more she worried. "I am now authorized to tell you everything we know about The Volturi organization and its cells including the one you work for, Twilight. However, we have never been able to get close enough to their organization to bring it down completely. Having a double field agent inside one of its most notorious divisions will definitely help in doing so."

"Absolutely, just tell me what I need to do and I will help you take them down," Bella was eager to get started on this new mission. She couldn't wait to bring the people that had taken her best friend from her to justice.

"Well, first we need to get you set up with a CIA handler. This will be the person that you detail all of your Twilight missions to, that will provide you with your counter missions and will be your first point of contact in the agency. We then need to establish contact protocols and a secure line for emergencies. I'm afraid it looks like you may be here a while longer." Carlisle smiled outwardly but inside his heart was breaking for the young woman in front of him. She had just found out that her whole adult life was based upon a lie and to have her best friend murdered only added to her pain. Now she was putting herself into the most dangerous position in espionage and yet she seemed keen and eager to begin.

When Edward first suggested that he would like to follow in his footsteps and join the agency Carlisle was filled with a sense of pride. Now, he was terrified. Edward could so easily have found himself in a situation similar to Isabella's and Carlisle had already lost far too much in life. He shuddered when the image of Alice in this position flashed before his eyes and he quickly moved on.

"I have the perfect handler in mind for you, Special Agent Francis who you met earlier. However, he will need to be briefed on both your situation and the one with The Volturi organization which could take a few weeks. For now, I am going to put you with a temporary handler, nothing major should occur in the next few weeks with your suspensions, but I don't want you to be without one." Carlisle stood and walked towards his office door. "Follow me," he commanded.

Bella understood how complex her situation was and knew that having a perfectly trained, perfectly briefed handler would be critical if she stood a chance of bringing down The Volturi brothers. She just hoped the agent she would be working with for the next few weeks would be gentle with her.

Carlisle led her out of his office, and down into the waiting elevator. From there they headed down to the fifth floor and past seven more offices before he arrived at the one he was looking for. This agent was a junior in the agency and had been requesting a different challenge for months now. Carlisle felt that handing Bella over to him for a few weeks could do no harm. He would gain valuable experience and Bella would be in the most capable of hands until her chosen handler could be brought up to speed.

Bella watched as the Director knocked three times on the closer door and then pushed it open. The office was by no means empty but there was no person inhabiting it at that moment. There were stacks of files all over the L shaped desk with barely enough space for the iMac that sat in the middle of it and yet they still seemed to be organized. Behind the desk was a comfy, well worn leather chair. There were four file cabinets along the wall opposite the desk which were stacked with more files on top.

As Bella took a further look around the room she saw very little that was personal, such as the Director's photograph, but there was plenty of Chicago Bulls memorabilia hung behind the desk. The office itself said a great deal about its inhabitant. Bella knew that whoever she was been handed off to was an organized and sensible person, probably young and new to the agency. However, she could tell from the amount of paper work, that this person was a hard working individual and that he was probably trying hard to work his way up the ladder. She smiled slightly to herself because she knew that handling her case, even if it was for only a few weeks, would definitely help further his career.

Just as Carlisle was directing Bella to take a seat, the door swung open and the occupant of the office walked in backwards, calling out to whomever it was that had been talking to him, "Of course, It's on my desk now, Jane. I promise I will have it to you by the end of the day." As he turned around to place his coffee on the desk, he jumped slightly at the sight of the young woman and the Director in front of him.

"Isabella Swan, I would like to introduce you to your temporary handler, Edward Cullen."

**A/N**

**Sorry this chapter took so long to get to you. I won't bore you with the details but RL was busy. **

**Thanks firstly to Racer and Decie who give me the best advice and support when characters start talking. **

**Massive thanks to Mr and Mrs Meadow who beta this for me every weeekend. They make my work more readable.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. I love hearing your theories. :-)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 6

Edward had only been in the building for four minutes when his supervisor cornered him in the elevator. She was a severe looking woman who, at forty-two, had blonde hair and sharp, grey eyes that never missed a motion on her floor. She also had a strong disliking for him. She felt that Edward had coasted his way to his place within the agency because of his father's position. So she always made it a habit to keep him jumping for her amusement.

Today's agenda was the reports on a bombing in South Africa which exhibited signs of being part of The Volturi Organization's work. Although Edward had assured Jane that they were already complete and on his desk, he hadn't gotten much farther than a brief summary of the event itself. With a promise to drop them by before the end of the day, Edward backed into his office, already clearing his schedule to complete them.

His plans came crashing down around him as he saw both the Director and Isabella Swan standing in his office, clearly awaiting his arrival. After a brief introduction the Director asked to speak to Edward outside for a few moments. Edward had to pick his jaw up from the floor before he could move.

"What's all this?" It took Edward a few moments to find his voice and when he did, he couldn't hide the confusion from his Director.

"Francis will need a few weeks to review Isabella's file and all of those we have on The Volturi brothers before he officially takes over as Isabella's handler. As you have been bugging me non-stop for almost two years now about getting some field experience, and you are our resident Volturi expert, I thought I would leave her in your capable hands for the next few weeks."

If Edward was stunned before he, was positive he was dreaming at this point. The Deputy Director of the CIA had just handed the biggest weapon they had in their fight on terror to him, Edward Cullen, Junior Desk Agent.

"Of course, Sir. I will do whatever you need me to." Edward was eager to get started. This was the perfect opportunity to prove to his superiors and, more importantly, to his father that he was ready to be out in the field.

After briefing Edward on the basics that needed to be covered with Isabella's induction, the Director left him outside his office chuckling after warning him not to get on her bad side again.

While Edward took the time to compose himself outside, Bella was doing the same thing inside. She had never been more embarrassed than she was now, sitting in the office of her handler, the man she had floored earlier, the Director's son. She took three deep cleansing breaths and managed to lock that embarrassment away just as Edward opened the door.

"Sorry about that," he smiled in Bella's direction and walked around to sit behind his desk. He had typed up enough reports to know exactly what needed to happen when inducting a double to the agency so he buried his nerves under work.

While Edward busied himself looking through his desk drawers, Bella took the time to appraise him. He was strikingly handsome, there was no denying that, with his tamed bronze hair, defined jaw, and what she was sure was an incredible body. However, what she saw in his deep, emerald eyes shocked her. There was a sadness to Agent Cullen that took her breath away.

When Edward looked up and saw Isabella staring at him, he blinked a few times to clear his mind and then he began addressing the issues at hand. He slid a simple smart phone across to her. She picked it up and pocketed it, not stopping to turn it over. Edward was shocked. Most women he knew liked to play with new technology but not Isabella.

"That phone will be your point of contact with you handler," he explained. "Our technicians have developed it so that it will only send and receive calls and messages from its partner," at this point Edward held up his own cell and shook it slightly. "I will keep this until Senior Agent Francis takes over your case and, as such, I am expected to have it on my person twenty-four-seven. You are not, of course, but as often as you can would be helpful."

"Is it traceable?" Bella asked, already wondering if she could sneak it into Twilight. Maybe some recorded conversations would help the CIA.

"Only from our end. If you keep it on you, we can activate it if anything happens and track you to your location." Bella nodded in understanding. She would find a way to keep it on her.

For the next three hours, Edward went over the procedure for meets, detailing assignments, how counter operations would be performed and answered all of the questions Bella posed. Throughout it all, he managed to keep a composed and professional tone. Underneath he was anything but. Bella was everything he aspired to be. He wanted to ask her about her experiences and if she had any advice for him and listen to her talk about her history just so that he could hear it all from the source.

When he had finally exhausted all of the professional topics of conversation, an uneasy silence fell over the two agents. Edward was busy biting his lip while Bella was contemplating the best way to apologize for her actions in the lobby.

"I'm sorry." The words left both of their mouths at exactly the same time and Bella couldn't help but giggle a little.

"You first," Edward made a grand gesture with his hands which just made Bella laugh harder.

She finally pulled herself together enough to finish her apology. "I'm sorry about what happened in the lobby. It was completely my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going and when I looked up and saw you checking me out, I reacted on instinct."

Edward blushed at being caught ogling his newest asset and hurried to assure her that it was, in fact, his fault. When they had both finished apologizing, Bella stood awkwardly. "I guess I should get going. I haven't been home in a few days and I think my dad might start worrying. Plus I need to shower and apartment hunt."

Edward couldn't control the words that spewed forwards at that moment. "I think I can help you there." His blush darkened as Bella's shocked eyes swivelled to his. "I mean with the apartment, not the shower," he rushed to clarify. "My building doesn't often have openings but one of the apartments on the floor above mine just became available. You could try there."

Bella wasn't sure about the idea of living in the same building as her Director's son, but the hopeful look on Edward's face stopped her from rejecting the idea out right. Instead she accepted his offer of the address of his building and then left his office, headed back to the hotel and to her father.

-x-

In a separate office, on the same floor as Edward's in the San Francisco CIA building, a woman was about to make the most important phone call of her life. The phone rang precisely five times before it was answered, the recipient not uttering a single word. The woman took three deep breaths before she spoke. "Stage three is complete, Sir." She didn't expect a response so she just closed the phone in her hand, removed both the battery and sim card and destroyed them.

-x-

When Charlie woke up Monday morning, he was very aware of the fact that he was alone. Bella had been gone for almost two days now, and he was beginning to worry. She had told him she needed to do something for work, and although he knew that his daughter taking off unexpectedly was normal, he couldn't help but worry for her safety. Just as he was contemplating calling her, Bella entered their suit with coffee in one hand and bagels in the other. She smiled reassuringly at him before setting their breakfast between them.

"Where have you been, Bella?" Charlie couldn't stop the inquisition waiting to burst forth.

"I had some things to take care of last night."

"But you didn't come home," her father protested. Bella was beginning to see the worry in her father's eyes.

"I needed to get a few reports completed for Esme before I could take some time off. I went to Emmett's. We ended up working late so he let me crash in his spare room. When I got back, it was too early to wake you so I thought I would get a head start on apartment hunting and bring you some breakfast." Bella pointed to the paper lying next to their breakfast, her carefully constructed alibi. Charlie visibly relaxed at her explanation and picked up his coffee.

"So, how far have you gotten in your search?" Charlie mumbled around a bite of bagel.

"Not very; I just had a look through the paper and online. I thought we could check some out together this afternoon."

Charlie brightened at the idea of spending the day with his daughter and the pair soon fell into a comfortable conversation about Bella's needs.

-x-

After four hours, six apartments and half a tank of gas, Bella was almost ready to give up. Everything she had looked at so far had either been unsuitable for human habitation or didn't meet her needs. She had almost resigned herself to the fact that she would be living out of a hotel for the rest of the month when Charlie made an almost squeak from the passenger's seat of her Audi.

"Huh?" Bella questioned.

"There is one more we can check out, make a left here," he directed. Bella followed her father's direction and within twenty minutes they pulled up outside a tall building in the center of the city.

She followed him into the lobby of the building where he spoke quickly and quietly to the middle-aged man behind the desk who hurried away. When he returned he was accompanied by a young red head dressed in a skirt suit. The middle-aged man pointed towards Bella and Charlie and then returned to the desk, while the young woman made her way over to them.

"Hi y'all," she greeted them both with a mega watt smile. "I hear you want to view the apartment. Follow me." With that last statement, she set off towards the elevators that led to the apartments above. Bella shot a thankful look towards her father and followed the perky red-head.

They made the journey up twenty two floors, all the time listening as Rachel the realtor tried to sell them on the three bed apartment that had just become available for rent before they stepped foot inside of it.

It wasn't until the elevator made a stop at floor twenty three that Bella became aware of just where she was. She had barely glanced at the scrap of paper Edward had given her with the address off his apartment building on it, so it wasn't until that familiar shock of bronze hair came into view that Bella truly realized her mistake.

Edward never expected to see her inside his building, let alone riding the elevator he usually took. As soon as those familiar coffee colored eyes came into view, he began lifting his hand in greeting.

Bella reacted immediately. She took a small step back, so she wasn't quite behind Charlie, and he wouldn't be able to see her actions. She locked eyes with Edward and shook her head once, firmly. Edward got the message instantly and passed the raise of his hand off as a scratch of his forearm and shuffled into the car suitably chastized.

Bella made short but polite conversation with Rachel as the car moved up to their stop on the floor above to avoid being detected. She was thankful that they arrived on the floor with the vacant apartment only seconds later.

-x-

Edward was just about to pour a glass of red wine for each of them when the distinctive tone of his cell interrupted him. She couldn't really say it interrupted their night because he had been distracted from the moment she stepped over the threshold. He apologized for the interruption and explained that he had to take the call. But she was barely listening. Instead she sighed into her empty glass and took over where he had left off.

-x-

"What the hell were you thinking?" She wasted no time in pleasantries.

"I'm sorry," Edward apologized nervously. "I didn't think, I was just so surprised to see you there; that's all." Edward knew he had made a big mistake as soon as he had raised his hand, but Bella's harsh tone made his chest ache. He had only been active on her case for seven hours and he had already screwed up.

"San Francisco is only so big; we are bound to run into each other somewhere. You have to act as though I don't exist unless you want to end up the same way Angela did." Bella stopped her rant immediately as a sob fought its way up her throat. Edward immediately picked up on it.

"I'm sorry, Isabella. I promise it won't happen again," he assured her. Then, hoping a change of subject would lift her spirits, he asked, "Are you going to take the apartment then?"

Bella hesitated. The truth was, it was the best she had seen all day, and it was in an ideal location for Platt's Brokers and the City Centre and it would give her the change she so desperately craved. However, it also meant living the floor above her handler and he was so inexperienced. It would only be a matter of time until he slipped up again and expose them both.

Edward picked up on the hesitation immediately and rushed to reassure Bella that living in his building would be anything but a problem. "It might work to our advantage, you being in my building. If we were to accidentally run into each other then we could just pass it off as friendly neighbors. The Director already has protection in the building so it's not like we could be bugged."

The more Edward said, the more Bella's mind became focused on the amazing new apartment. She had wanted it from the moment Rachel unlocked the front door, but having Edward in the same building had made it an immediate "no".

"I promise not to mess up again in front of others," he finished, hoping that his speech had won Bella over. He couldn't explain why, but ever since he had found out Bella was apartment hunting, it became very important to have her living in his building.

"I'll think about it," she promised. Edward sighed in relief and was about to say good night when Bella interrupted him. "It's Bella," she almost whispered into the receiver.

"Pardon?"

"I prefer Bella to Isabella," she smiled. Edward could hear it from his end of the line and he too smiled.

"Good night ,Bella."

When he re-entered his kitchen, Kate was sitting at her spot at the table, eating her portion of the meal he had cooked for her, while his sat getting cold on the side of the counter. She was pissed and he honestly couldn't find it in himself to care right now. Instead, he sat down to a cold meal and made small talk with his girlfriend. When she suggested spending the night Edward yawned loudly, said he had a busy day at work and the beginnings of a headache forming and quickly ushered her out of his door, locking in tightly behind him.

-x-

The first week of Bella's suspension passed quietly by. The only distraction was moving into her new apartment in Carillion Tower. She didn't step a foot inside of her old one. Charlie had seen to it that all of her belonging were packed away and moved into storage before they had returned from Forks.

Bella was extremely grateful for her father's help. He was with her when she went shopping for new furniture, when she cried sorting through Angela's belongings with the Webbers, when she needed someone to help her move her bookcases from where the movers had left them, and to hold her when she woke in the night screaming from the dreams that had been plaguing her. However, just over a week after he had come to California with his daughter, Charlie had to return to Forks and she was, once again, left alone.

She didn't run in to Edward again and neither one of them made the effort to contact the other. They didn't want to risk discovery, so while Bella worked out at the gym, and spent her free time making her new apartment her home, Edward was busy working on her case. He reviewed all of the files he could find that mentioned Bella personally. He also read up on The Volturi Organization and its known crimes and even reviewed Bella's own statement that his father had taken when she came in.

He hadn't seen Kate again since his rejection the night of Bella's call and he dodged her own calls at every opportunity, choosing to text her with a simple_ I'm busy at work, call you later_.

-x-

When Bella stepped over the threshold of the California branch of Platt's Brokers, she did so with her very best fake smile. She had been practicing in the bathroom mirror the day before. She accepted all of the "I'm sorry for your loss" comments that came her way with a slight bow of her head and a turned up lip before making her way towards her desk and Emmett.

Emmett was just finishing up a call to a Japanese arms dealer when he saw Bella slide in behind her desk and log on to her computer. As soon as the phone was back in its cradle, he was beaming at Bella. He had missed her these past four weeks and he was more than happy to see her again.

"Hey Bells, how did your apartment hunting go?" All of Bella's co-workers had been told that her four week suspension was actually a four week paid vacation so as not to stir things up amongst the lower level agents.

"Good; thanks. I found one at Carillion Tower," at this Emmett whistled in appreciation. He had dated a girl that once lived in the tower and it had been an incredible apartment. Bella cleared her throat, a sure sign that she was about to change the topic of their conversation. "How's everything here?"

Emmett launched straight into his version of the events of the last four weeks. Esme had apparently apologized for everything that happened with Newton, stating they had received a communication from Eclipse in London saying that Newton had recently moved the virus to his office there and one of their agents had picked it up.

He then went on to tell Bella about his mission to Norway where he is being sent to survey a meeting between the two most notorious terrorist cells in Europe, Vortex and Azure. He was headed out there on Wednesday and he should be back again Friday. To Emmett, this was an easy mission and he sounded like he planned on getting some sightseeing in while he was there.

The day passed in relative silence. Bella worked upon the Vortex reports she had been sent by their analysts while everyone else went about their day-to-day routine. She had seen Jasper pass her by a few times but she never once raised her head past the usual "good morning" greetings. She didn't see Esme all day.

Finally, at six PM, she packed up her belongings, headed to the underground parking garage. On her way there, she pulled out her cell phone and typed three simple words;

_Pepperoni or Hawaiian?_

-x-

Edward's day had been much busier than Bella's. When he arrived at his desk at nine o'clock Jane had been waiting for him. He had failed to submit the promised reports to her on time and she made sure that would never happen again. Her tongue-lashing had been heard throughout the floor and it wasn't until Edward was suitably red-faced that she stormed back to her own office, leaving a trail of devastation in her path.

After rushing to finish up the reports Jane was asking for, Edward watched carefully as she left for lunch, before slipping them onto her desk. He then spent the remainder of his afternoon dodging calls from his girlfriend and checking his cell periodically. It was Bella's first day back and he wasn't expecting to hear from her unless she had any information. However, he couldn't shake the worry that was building in the pit of his stomach.

As the day drew to a close, Edward was driving home, humming along with the radio when his cell phone beeped on the passenger seat. He ignored the damn thing, expecting it to be another message from Kate demanding answers. When he pulled into the parking bay, he was surprised to see a white Audi pull up beside him. He knew most of the cars in the lot but this one he had never seen before. It should have come as no surprise to him that it would belong to the building's newest resident.

Bella stepped out of her own car looking much smarter than Edward had ever seen her before. She was wearing a knee length plum wrap dress and knee high black boots. Edward briefly worried how she had managed to drive in those heels but quickly shook the thought away. He inclined his head in a polite manner before walking just behind her towards the elevator.

The car was empty when it arrived which Edward was pleased about; it would give him a chance to talk to Bella without raising suspicions. He gestured for her to step in ahead of him and when the doors slid shut he opened his mouth, only to shut it again when he saw the paper Bella was holding out to him.

"What's this?" he finally squeaked.

"A brief review of my conversation with Emmett today. I thought you might find it helpful. Did you not get my text?" she raised one of her perfectly manicured brows with her question.

Edward fumbled over his words for a second before it dawned on him that Bella had been the one to text him on his drive home, not Kate. He grimaced, before explaining, "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

Bella cocked her head in question but Edward shook her off. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of discussing his girlfriend with her. Instead, he asked his own question. "How did you know I would be here? I mean, what would you have done if I was late getting home?"

Bella blushed under his scrutiny and confessed her knowledge. "I've been watching the times you come and go during the day. Mondays you are always home slightly later than any other day of the week so I knew if I waited a little longer myself I would probably arrive at the same time as you."

Edward didn't have a chance to respond as the doors of the elevator slid open on Bella's floor. Instead, he watched out of the corner of his eye as she exited the car and made her way to her front door. Ten minutes later he was sitting in his study with a glass of red wine reading over Bella's handmade notes.

-x-

On Wednesday, Bella said goodbye to Emmett and wished him luck in his mission. She still hadn't seen Esme since she had been back, but one of the girls in the office told her she was at Langley with the bosses going over a yearly review. Bella worked hard to hold back her scoff at that information. Instead, she worked hard at reviewing all of the files she could lay her hands on to see if there was anything she could pass on to Edward that would help them. Unfortunately, she wasn't as good of a hacker as Jasper and she came up empty handed each and every time.

The end of the week rolled around just as quietly as it had began and Bella found herself looking forward to the start of her final week on desk duty. As much as she now hated what Esme had made her do out in the field, she was ashamed to admit she was bored stiff being stuck behind a computer typing all day. She had always been an active person. Charlie used to tell her she was more work than the teenage population of Forks combined.

When she arrived at the office first thing Monday morning, she was not expecting the commotion that greeted her. She popped her bag under her desk and was about to take her seat when She Devil appeared from nowhere, panting from running to Bella's desk. Bella raised her brow in question but made no other sign that she had seen Esme at all.

"Isabella, there's been a problem."

-x-

When Edward arrived at his desk that morning, he was not in a good mood. He hadn't seen or heard from Bella in a week and he was worried about what was happening to her at that place. His mood darkened further when he saw the blond standing there waiting for him.

"Kate, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were still alive," she deadpanned.

"Well, you came and you saw," Edward replied, shifting behind his desk to fire up his computer. "Now if you don't mind I'm incredibly busy." Taking his seat he looked towards the door when he had finished speaking as if to get his point across.

Kate huffed in front of him before she found her voice. "What the hell happened to you?" she demanded. "You changed so quickly. What could possibly be so important that you have been ignoring me for so long?"

Edward was about to answer her questions, thinking that being honest would be the best thing for him to do in this position when his cell phone began ringing. He fumbled around on his desk for a few seconds before he realized that it was not his phone that was ringing but the one he kept especially for Bella.

Following a few more minutes of fumbling through his bag with shaking hands, he answered the call he never expected to receive. "Cullen," his voice was so shaky it almost sounded like a question instead of a greeting.

"I'm going to Norway," was all she said and Edward stood, dumbfounded for at least a minute until he found his voice.

"What? Why? I thought you were suspended?" He rushed out, fearing that she would hang up on him.

"Emmett's been captured!"

**A/N **

**Once again I must appologise for the lateness of this chapter. RL keeps throwing me new problems every week. Updates will probably slow down from now on because I am back at uni but I will try to aim for every other week. **

**I owe many thanks to Mr and Mrs Meadow. Honestly, you wouldn't be able to read this is they didn't cast their magic red pen over it first. **

**Again, I owe thanks to Elli and her knowledge of California. She sends me amazing links to help someone who has never left the UK write about the State. **

**I should have mentioned this earlier, but better late than never. I beta for two loveely ladies, December LeNoir and Lel2768. They are both amazing writers so feel free to check them out. The links are on my profile. **

**Thanks again for reading and reviewing.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 7

While Edward stood in shock on his end of the line, Bella was busy throwing things into an overnight bag. Her car was leaving in six minutes, with or without her, and she didn't have time for Edward to find his voice. Just as she was about to hang up and search for her hairbrush Edward spoke up. "Ok, from the beginning," he suddenly went into business mode and Bella thanked any kind of deity watching over her for him being able to pull himself together.

"Esme approached me this morning to tell me that Emmett was MIA. He never returned from his surveillance of the meet between the two European terrorist cells and she believes one of them may have taken him. Her official stance is that Emmett has valuable information on the agency and needs to be rescued. My mission is to find him, get the disc with his recordings of the meet and, if I cannot get him out, make sure information about the agency is contained."

As Bella spoke, Edward made brief notes while an Irritated Kate looked on. He was confused about one point however. "What does she mean by contain the information?" he asked, a little nervous about Bella's response.

"She has given me a vile of Cyanide to act upon the second outcome if necessary." Edward drew in a sharp breath at this piece of information.

"What are you going to do?" Edward asked as he paced behind his desk. There was really very little that he could do at this moment in time. They had no advanced warnings, no time to prepare and Edward hated being unprepared.

"I'm going to save Emmett's life. There is no way I am loosing another friend to her." Bella's tone was harsh and decisive, leaving no room for Edward to argue. "I do have one request though."

"Anything," Edward was eager to help. "Just tell me what I can do to help, Bella."

"I'll send you a text when I get to Emmett's laptop. Can you have someone in my hotel in Norway to copy the data across before we come home? As soon as that disc gets on the flight it will be under lock and key."

"Of course, I'm on it now," Edward replied, completely ignoring his girlfriend and walking out of his office. She followed him as he headed towards the elevators on his floor.

"Ok, I'll talk to you when I land."

"Stay safe, Bella," Edward sighed into the phone. She hung up before he had a chance to say anything else.

While Bella locked and left her apartment, headed towards San Rafel airfield and her private plane, Edward made his way up towards the floor of the Director's office with an angry Kate beside him. She had questioned him endlessly once he ended his call but he was too focused to answer her. She became even more furious when they exited the elevator only to be stopped in her tracks by Heidi who refused to let her past. Edward didn't look back as he made his way into the office of the Deputy Director of the CIA.

-x-

As his screaming died down, the door to the cellar opened, creaking on its rusty hinges and groaning as it was quickly pushed back into place. The newest arrival, walked purposefully towards the bath set up in the middle of the room and stopped, just out of sight.

"Your screams are disturbing my wife Mr. McCarty. I don't like that." He drew a deep and measured breath before speaking again. "I can make this end. I can take away your pain. Just tell me where the disc is."

"Bite me," was all he managed to reply before he felt the searing pain of 450 volts of electricity tearing their way through his body. His screams drowned out the sound of the door closing behind his captor.

-x-

From the moment her plane touched down in Oslo, Bella wasted no time in gathering as much information as she could. She had reviewed the case file Esme had provided Emmett with before his mission and decided the best place to start was at the point where Emmett was likely to have been taken, the meeting point.

According to the file she had been given, the meet was set for a rental apartment in Kristiansand. Terrorist cells often had ties to realtors in order to take advantage of the empty homes they had access to. It was hard to survey meetings if they were never in the same place. Lucky for Bella, Esme had even bigger ties.

It took Bella exactly four point six seconds to pick the lock on the door and slip inside. As soon the door clicked shut behind her, she removed a small spray bottle from her bag. The people that had Emmett were smart, there was no way they would leave behind visible clues as to what had taken place, but she wasn't looking for visible signs of a scuffle.

She knew that in order to survey the meet without being detected, Emmett would have to have been outside the apartment. So she began with the door she had just entered. She used the bottle in her hand to spray around the access points in the apartment and was beginning to wonder if she was in the right place when the window ledge of the smallest bedroom began to fluoresce bright blue. To make sure the blood on the ledge wasn't a bird's, she removed two small droppers from her bag and a swab. After swabbing the florescent area, she first dropped phenolphthalein onto the cotton tip, and then hydrogen peroxide. The bright pink color that appeared as soon as the hydrogen peroxide touched the swab told Bella that the blood belonged to a human and was most likely Emmett's.

She had worked with Emmett long enough to piece together what had happened to him, the night of his abduction:

_He had arrived in Norway early Thursday morning and had gone straight to the site of the meet. Using the alias that Esme had provided him with, he rented the apartment directly across from the one that was being used for the meeting between Vortex and Azure and spent his morning making his plans. He had set up cameras to capture images of those entering and leaving the apartment building, tapped into the security feed of cameras already placed inside and then waited. Most of his afternoon was spent watching European sports but as soon as the sun went down, he flew into action. _

_Jasper had provided him with a new piece of technology he had spent months developing. It looked like a crossbow, but when fired, would provide Emmett with a zip line to enable him to move from his building to the one across the street. The end of the bolt was designed like an inverted grapple Hook. _

_Emmett took advantage of the darkened street and took aim with the bow. The line zipped across, out of his open window and latched onto the ledge of a bedroom window of the apartment with a soft thud. Then, as Jasper had suggested, he used the bow to tie off the other end to his own window frame. He then packed a small leather backpack with the amplifier and fibre optic camera Jasper had lent him from his own personal supply and a small drill before donning a pair of sturdy leather gloves. Climbing onto the ledge, Emmett cast a brief look down, said a prayer that the line would hold, and took hold of the steel cable. _

_When he reached the other side, he made quick work of attaching the amplifier to the window pane and drilling through into the lounge, on the other side of the window to feed the fiber optic cable into. He then retreated back to his apartment to wait for the arrival of the Vortex and Azure agents. _

_It took twenty minutes before Emmet heard the door opening and closing and the two agents entering the apartment. He checked that his laptop was recording both the sound and video, before slipping in his ear piece and his leather gloves on. He made the climb back across the zip line in near silence and stopped beside the window. From his position he could neither be heard nor seen but he could hear everything that was going on in the next room. _

_Emmett couldn't identify the voice of either agent but he did recognize some of their conversation. "Newton says the virus is ready to go, it just needs uploading to the system and then we will have all the information we need to bring the world to their knees." _

_Emmett was so engrossed in the conversation that when the brick beneath his feet began to give way he cursed loudly, forgetting his place and position. While he fumbled for a foot hold, the agents, looking for the source of the noise, found a giant man, hanging from a cable right outside the window. Benjamin reacted the quickest and struck him over the back of the head with his Desert Eagle, leaving him unconscious. Between him and Stefan they managed to cut Emmett down and haul him inside. _

It hadn't taken Bella long to accurately piece together the information from the night of the abduction. Emmett's blood on the window ledge and the shards of broken brick below, combined with the four small holes that had been made by Jasper's bow and the small, circular mark on the window proved that much.

From her knowledge of her partner, Bella knew that Emmett's laptop would contain all of the information from that meet and potentially the information she would need to find Emmett. She also knew that Emmett would have made sure that laptop was well hidden before he was caught.

Packing up her belongings, she quickly made her way out of the apartment building and into the one on the other side of the street. Getting into the building was easier than she expected and in no time she stood in the middle of the apartment that had been previously rented to Charles McIntyre (one of Emmett's favorite aliases).

"Now, if I were a laptop, where would I be?" she wondered aloud.

-x-

_Powerful legs, clad in tight black jeans, straddled his waist. He didn't hesitate, raising his hands to grip her hips and pull her closer. She needed no further guidance and lowered her face to his own, bringing her lips to brush against his ear. _

"_Do you want me, Edward?" she whispered before tugging on his lobe with her teeth. His head fell back against his office chair, a deep moan leaving his throat as the office phone began to ring. "Shouldn't you get that?" she asked as she began licking a path across his collarbone. _

"_Ignore it," he panted, his breathing becoming laboured and shallow. But even as he spoke, the ringing became louder and more dominating. She pulled away and he immediately mourned the loss of contact. _

"_Answer the phone Edward." Her tone had changed. She was no longer this wanton seductress sat on his lap. She was cold, detached and formal and that damned phone was getting louder and louder... _

He awoke with a gasp, sweat beading on his forehead and the worse case of morning wood he'd had since he was a teenager (if one could call three twenty seven am morning). After quickly adjusting himself, he reached over to his bedside table fumbling in the dark for the source of the ringing that had woken him.

He cleared his throat once, before answering the call with his usual, "Cullen."

"I need some information."

He blinked rapidly into the darkness and removed the cell from its position by his ear. In the darkness of the early morning, he hadn't seen which phone it was he had picked up and he was surprised to hear Bella on the other end of that call.

"Hello? Edward? Are you there?" she called. She was in no mood to be messed around with right now.

"I'm here," he replied, switching on a light and wincing at the brightness that came with it. "What do you need?"

"The people that took Emmett, I have some names. Can you use your clearance to get me any information you can that would help me find him? "

"Sure, just a second." Edward climbed out of bed, and made his way towards his breakfast bar where he had left his laptop the night before. After firing it up, he logged in to the CIA database, ready for the names Bella would provide him with.

"The meet was between two agents, one from Azure and one from Vortex. I have the names Benjamin and Stefan here. Can you cross reference them and let me know if they have any places in Norway connected to the groups?"

"Sure, I'm doing it now." Edward typed away furiously, and after four searches he came back with the result he was hoping for. "I have a Benjamin Reitan, known associate of Azure who works out of a club in Oslo. I can text you the address if you would like?"

"Thanks, that would be helpful," Bella sighed into the phone. "I'll have the information from the meet, copied onto the disc you gave me. I will text you the location when I hang up."

"Thanks. We appreciate it." Edward could sense his time with Bella was nearing its end and he wasn't yet ready for that. He could also sense that Bella wasn't in the mood to hang around so he ended the call. "Be careful Bella."

He sat with the phone still pressed to his ear for a full minute after Bella had hung up, wishing for a conversation with her that didn't revolve around their jobs. After dropping the phone to his comforter, he switched off the light and laid back down, staring at his bedroom ceiling until his alarm went off at six am.

-x-

After shutting the locker door, she exited the hotel lobby and pressed send on the message she had already typed for Edward. She knew that as soon as it had been received the CIA would have someone retrieve the device and take it back to California for analysis, but her main objective was to find Emmett.

Edward had given her the address for the club in Oslo. So after using her alias identity, provided by Esme, to rent a car, she began the four hour drive back to the Capital. All the while, she was making plans for the best way into the club, the best way to her target and the best way to get out.

When she finally made it to Oslo, it was verging on nine pm, and she knew this would only aid her plans. She made her way to the nearest supermarket, grabbed the items she would need to help her and then checked into the motel closest to the club.

It took her an hour to transform from Bella Swan, double agent with the CIA to Georgia White, a fresh faced university graduate who wanted to hit the clubs. Her once chocolate brown locks were now a bright and vibrant red and she had changed from her black jeans and shirt to a red satin dress and strappy silver heels. She completed her new look with a silver clutch, large enough for her favourite gadgets and some earrings.

When she arrived at the club that was owned by Benjamin Reitan, she easily slipped past the bouncer and into the pounding noise behind. The club was exactly what she expected to find: loud music blaring from every corner of the room, a large dance floor in the center with a bar on one side and stairs to a VIP area on the other. She took a seat at the bar, where she nursed a rum and cola for the first hour, taking in the people around her, the building itself and the people she saw coming and going from the VIP area. It was only after she finished ordering her second drink that she spotted him.

Emmett's recordings had been very useful in allowing her to see exactly who had taken him and when she saw Benjamin approach the bar, she silently thanked him for being so thorough. It took a further forty minutes of surveillance before she finally began to notice a pattern. It was obvious that Mr. Reitan had bodyguards, the two bulky men at the entrance to the VIP area, who followed his every move, made that clear. However, the way they continued to disappear was bewildering her so she decided to make use of her CIA contact.

-x-

Carlisle had been in his office for only seven minutes when his son came through the door, closing and locking it behind him. He had seen more of his son since he handed him Isabella's case than he had in the last four months combined. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised, Edward had always been a hard worker, but he had to confess that when he handed him the case, he never actually expected his son to become involved in any of the field work that was currently taking place. He was also man enough to admit that he was a little scared about the potential risk it would pose on Edward's safety.

"Bella called me this morning." Carlisle was startled out of his thoughts by Edward's rushed words.

"Wait, slow down," he commanded. "Why did Bella call?"

Edward then proceeded to explain to his father about the early morning phone call he had received from Bella and the results of it. He was so proud of his eldest child when he revealed that because of Bella, the CIA were now in possession of a recorded meeting between two of the biggest terrorist organizations in the world. Their deals and conversations would provide invaluable to their war on terror.

As Edward sat with his father, he received another message to the phone he was affectionately referring to as his Bella phone. He stopped his father midsentence to read it aloud.

"Need blue-prints of Reitan's club. Thanks. B"

Carlisle raised his brow at the initial Isabella had used to sign off her text, but proceeded to pull up the details she had requested, sending them to her phone. Edward's pinged almost instantly with a reply which he chose to keep from his father. His slightly red-tipped ears being the only giveaway to the content of the message;

_Thanks E. I owe you one. B_

-x-

Stage two of Bella's plan was simple now that she had the information she required. All she needed to do was access the VIP area of the club. She took her time, picking her target carefully and when she finally had the opening she needed, she took it.

"Whoops, I am so sorry," she slurred, having just spilt her glass of rum down the biggest of the bodyguards. "I get clumsy when I have one too many. Here let me clean you up." She took a tissue from her purse and began to wipe away at the crotch of the guard's pants, smiling in satisfaction as he began to harden under her ministrations. "Is there somewhere less crowded we can go? I would hate for this to stain." All it took was a quick flutter of her lashes to get the guard to do as she wanted and soon he was leading her up the stairs to the VIP area. Once there he nodded to his boss and proceeded to lead her through a hidden door at the back of the club.

As soon as she stepped through the door, Bella made her move. Jasper had developed a tazer lipstick for a mission years ago and Bella had been carrying it ever since. A girl never knew when she would need to defend herself. Pulling it from her purse, the guard turned to look at her, so she made a big show out of removing the lid and twisting up the stick. He smiled and winked and then turned back to look where he was walking. That was his biggest mistake. The tazer made no noise as it connected with the back of the guard's neck and Bella eased his body to the floor clumsily.

When her hands were free, she wasted no time in pulling out the plans Edward had sent to her. She knew where Emmett was being held as soon as she had seen them. There was a large room under the main club with no apparent purpose and that would make the perfect holding cell. She frisked the guard, smiling when she pulled out his gun, complete with a full clip, and slipped off her heels. There was no way she would be able to sneak along a concrete corridor with those on.

-x-

At some point during the evening, he had fallen asleep because when he woke, it was in a puddle of his own urine, with an awkward crick in his neck and his hands now tied in front of him. Obviously, whoever had him was not an amateur. They were making sure to keep him from any lasting damage. Yet.

He wiggled his fingers and toes, making sure they all still worked and then moved his head to try and find a more comfortable position. It was only then that he realized he was alone. For the first time since his capture, he had been left without a guard.

He took advantage of the opportunity, raising his head as far as he could to look around the room. He was in a large, rectangular space that appeared to be underground. There were no windows, no natural lighting and only one doorway at the far end. Emmett was willing to bet that there was at least one guard behind it. There was nothing lying around that could be used to aid his escape. In fact, he was lying in a steel bath in the middle of an empty room as far as he could tell.

He sighed quietly, before dropping back down. If he was going to get out of here, it would have to be a planned attack. Maybe he could lure one of the guards in and take them down. A quick rattle of his feet reminded him that even if he could take a guard down, there was no way he could get out of the bath without help. He knew there was only way out of this situation.

"Where are you Bella?"

**A/N**

**Sorry this chapter took so long to get to you but RL handed me a few unsolvable equations to deal with. Thanks for sticking with me. **

**Thanks go to my beta's Mr. and Mrs. Meadow who work on this together for me. They are an amazing team. **

**More thanks to Decie who pre-read this and helped me work out how much detail to go into with all the techincal asspects. I can get a little carried away. **

**Also thanks to Jenn for her opinions on this chapter and as always, credit goes to Elli for California places. **

**Bella's alias Georgia White can be found here http:/www(dot)polyvore(dot)com/cgi/set?id=39246733**

**The method Bella uses to test the origin of the blood on the window ledge is called the Kastle-Meyer test and is detailed here http:/en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/Kastle-Meyer_test**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. I love hearing from you.  
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	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 8

Edward was a mess. He tried his best to hide it from those around him and for the most part, he succeeded. However, he couldn't hide it from his own father, and that was why Carlisle sat in his office at nine pm making calls when he should have been at his daughter's piano recital.

"I know you haven't had the time to prepare for this yet, Liam, but I need you back here." Carlisle knew that his plan would be argued on both sides but he also knew that if he allowed Edward any more time with Isabella, he would be in far too deep.

Sighing in frustration, Carlisle did the only thing he could think of in order to end this argument that had been fought for a good few hours now. "I don't care if you haven't yet had the time to prepare; Isabella will be handed over to you when she returns from Norway and that is final." He hated to pull rank on people he considered close friends but this time it was necessary.

As he hung up the phone, Carlisle began to wonder how he would broach the subject with his son. Edward was bound to be upset and resent him for his decisions. He only hoped that one day he would understand that everything he did was in Edward's best interests.

-x-

With her back pressed firmly to the wall, Bella navigated the labyrinth beneath the club, expecting a Minotaur at every turn. She became more and more concerned the closer she got to Emmett's suspected location due to the lack of guards she had run into. Why hadn't anyone checked on the guard she had taken out?

Making sure that all of her senses were working overtime, she continued following the plans she had memorized and headed towards the make-shift holding cell. The room where Emmett was being held couldn't be missed. The door was large and imposing, and virtually impenetrable. Bella knew that she would never be able to force her way through it.

A quick analysis of the security told Bella that she wasn't going to be getting through that door without any help. She quickly made her way back up through the maze of corridors to where she had left the guard. He was still in the same place, unconscious on the floor. Using the smelling salts she kept in her purse, Bella quickly roused the guard.

Once she was certain he was semi-conscious, she shoved the barrel of his gun into his face and spoke in a low and deadly tone, "Walk. Quickly and quietly or I'll leave your brains on the wall."

It took her twice as long to make it back to Emmett's location (she suspected the guard was deliberately dragging his feet in an attempt to wait for back up, which never came). Once they reached the door, Bella put her plan into motion. With a jab on her gun to his back, she had him open the door, first by performing a retina scan and secondly by swiping his finger across the print reader. With some final cajoling, he had the door swinging open on its rusted hinges.

-x-

When Edward arrived at his desk the following morning he found a note from The Director asking for him to come to his office at midday. As soon as he saw it, his stomach dropped. Nothing good ever came of formal demands for meetings with The Director. For the rest of the day Edward was a pile of nerves, he couldn't stop the "what ifs" from forming in his mind. And that is how Director Cullen found him, in the little waiting area outside of his office.

-x-

When Emmett heard the door swing open he steeled himself for yet more pain, he was tired, cold, hungry and at the end of his tether. He knew he would die soon if he didn't give up the information that was being tortured out of him. However, Emmett was a professional. No amount of electroshock therapy was going to break him. The last person he expected to see was Bella in front of him.

"Hey, how are you holding up?"

Emmett barked out a laugh at the casualness of her greeting, which quickly turned into a coughing fit due to his lack of nutrition. Bella suppressed a shudder as she began to examine his bindings. They looked simple enough, a set of iron manacles attached at one end to the bath that he was lying in, and then wrapped around each of his limbs.

"I'll have you out of here in a couple of seconds," she assured him, and began pulling pins out of her hair. When she found the one she was searching for, she used it to pick the locks on the manacles. When he was finally free, she stood back to allow him to find his balance. There was no way she could drag him out of the building herself so she prayed he was still strong enough to carry his own weight.

While Emmett found his balance, Bella used the time to analyze her surroundings. There were hidden cabinets built into the walls of the room, and she used the spare time to break one open. Once she had the door, swinging from its hinges she began examining the many glass and plastic bottles inside. There was Semtex, White Phosphorus, Silver Nitrate, The H1N1 virus, Anthrax and many more too. It didn't take a genius to know what usually took place in this basement. A quick check on Emmett showed that he was munching on a protein bar she had in her purse, so she quickly pulled out her cell phone for the CIA and snapped a few pictures of the jars, before sending them to Edward. She then proceeded to hide the cell phone in her cleavage.

"Hey, who's this guy?"

Bella was interrupted from her thoughts by Emmett's question. He was now sturdy on his feet and towered above the guard she had knocked out once again before entering the room.

"Just an access key," Bella smiled towards her partner, happy to see him back up again.

"And I guess this would be his entourage," he nodded to the men quickly rounding the corner of the corridor with their guns drawn.

Bella swore before running to help Emmett close the heavy steel door.

-x-

As Edward trudged down to his own office, his _Bella phone_ pinged alerting him to an incoming text message. He opened the message with a heavy heart, sighed deeply when the message opened on the screen and immediately turned around to head back up to The Director's office.

-x-

"This door isn't going to hold much longer," Emmett panted, his back pressed firmly to the item in question.

"Just give me a sec," Bella was busy rummaging through the built in cupboards she had found. "Found it," she exclaimed a few moments later, holding up the plastic container for her partner to see.

"HF? What the hell is HF, Bella?"

Bella sighed as she continued to rummage through the rest of the cabinets searching for anything that would get them out of the club safely. "I really don't have time to give you a chemistry lesson Em. Study when we get out of here."

Emmett looked up to make a smart remark but was quickly silenced by the heavy duty biohazard suit she had thrown at him. He simply raised an eyebrow before pulling the suit on. When he was fully secure inside, Bella handed him a pair of gloves and a full face gas mask. At his hesitation she simply replied, "trust me."

Bella made sure to double check both of their suits before asking Emmett to open the door slightly. He did so without question, fully trusting that she knew what she was doing. As soon as she had a clear opening, Bella threw the plastic bottle as hard and as fast as she could. The small army waiting on the other side of the door was so surprised by her actions that they didn't react in time, and one, carefully placed shot, had the bottle spraying fluid all over the people below. Emmett shut the door again just before the screams began.

"Now we wait."

-x-

While Bella and Emmett were waiting in Norway, Edward was waiting in California. He had agreed to meet with his father for lunch, and as usual, Carlisle Cullen was running late. When he finally arrived, Edward was on his second glass of wine and had already placed his order. Carlisle made his usual apologies before taking his seat and placing his own order.

The two men sat in relative silence, waiting for their food to arrive. Edward was too lost in thought to notice that his father was using the time to take in his appearance. His son was clearly not sleeping well. The bags under his eyes and the scruffy appearance of his suit showed as much, but there were something else. There was something different about his eldest child, but Carlisle could not put his finger on it.

After the waiter returned with two steaming plates of food, conversation seemed to flow naturally between the two men as Edward brought up the subject of his baby sister, Alice. However, even Alice couldn't lift the cloud off of their meeting entirely and, as plates were cleared, a heavy silence fell once more. This time, Carlisle was the one to break it.

"Edward, Son, I hope you understand why I had Agent Francis take over Isabella's case." Something in Edward shifted at the mention of their latest asset but he did his best to hide it. Unfortunately for him, his lunch companion was well trained in subtle body language.

"I understand," Edward began. "What I don't understand is why you pulled him in so quickly, and with so little preparation. Am I that much of a liability?" The hurt expression on his face almost broke Carlisle's heart, but he remained firm in his decision.

"No, Son. This is not about your ability. It is about your safety. Isabella has chosen to put herself in an incredibly dangerous situation; I don't think you fully understand just how much danger you would be putting yourself in associating with her."

Edward scoffed at his father's comment, pushing his chair away from the table. "I joined the agency because I believe in the cause. I understood what risks I would be taking. Why can't you see that this is what I want?"

"Because I can't lose you too!"

Carlisle was on his feet by this point, breathing heavily as he glanced down at his beloved son.

"I want to work in the field," Edward began calmly, slowly rising to his feet. "If I have to, I will go over your head." And with that Edward left the restaurant.

-x-

When the door was finally opened again, Emmett could see why Bella had given him the heavy duty bio hazard suit. He would definitely be seeking the help of Dr Banner when he got back to California, to erase the image that was bound to be burnt into his memory.

Bella was busy stepping around the corpses on the floor. She wasn't ashamed to admit that the devastation she had caused was horrific, but she wasn't going to waste her time crying over these men. Men who had held and tortured her partner for over a week. Men who had taken hundreds of innocent lives and were plotting to take more.

Once they had made it around the corridor, the pair broke into a run, headed for the entrance to the VIP area of the club. It was only then that Bella gave Emmett the nod, indicating he could remove his mask, gloves, and suit, as she began doing the same. With one final check of the gun she had taken from the first guard, she opened the door into the silence of a closed club. This would definitely make their escape easier.

There was no one between them and the exit, so the pair managed to sneak out unseen and into the early morning. Once outside, Bella hailed a cab to take them back to her motel room where she was sure to take every precaution against the acid they may have been exposed to before checking out and making their way to the safe house Esme had given them.

-x-

"Esme Platt."

"I have Emmett. We are both at the safe house and the data is secure but Reitan knows his identity. How should I proceed?" Esme was shocked. She hadn't expected Emmett to be alive by the time Bella had gotten to him and she was even more surprised that Bella had been able to get him out without being detected.

"The plane will be waiting for you in fourteen hours. We will debrief back here after you have seen Banner and go from there. The data Emmett collected should help us to keep his identity as quiet as possible."

"We may also have been exposed to hydrofluoric acid," Bella added, knowing that the symptoms could take hours to present and by that time, the damage would be irreversible.

"I'll have a doctor sent to your location to check you both over. I will contact you when I have more details."

"Yes Ma'am." With Bella's final response, Esme hung up the phone and began preparations for bringing home her best partnership. Bella may be a liability at times, but she had to admit, she was a damn good spy.

-x-

While Emmett was sleeping off his injuries, Bella made her way out of the safe house and into the woods. She made sure to walk a good two miles before placing a call to her very worried CIA handler.

"Bella? Oh God, are you ok? Is Emmett?" She would have laughed if the situation wasn't as serious as it had been.

"We are both fine. A few superficial wounds but nothing serious." Edward let out a sigh of relief not even bothering to hide it from Bella.

"I'm glad," he whispered. Then he cleared his throat, his voice taking on a more professional quality. "So, I have some news. Senior Agent Francis is back with us now. He will be taking over your case when you land."

"Oh." Bella didn't really know how to react to that news. In all honesty, she was getting used to Edward and his somewhat unorthodox methods. A part of her wasn't yet ready to let go.

"Will there be an official hand over? Will I just never see you again?" she tried to make her voice sound light and playful but she knew she was failing.

"No official hand over, but we will see each other. We live in the same building, remember?" Not wanting to draw things out, Bella decided to end the call.

"Well I had better get back to the safe house before Emmett misses me. It was a pleasure working with you, Edward," she cringed at the cliché. If she was standing in front of him, this would have been the point where she stuck out her hand for him to shake and then walked away without looking back.

Edward, feeling a little hurt by the way Bella had dismissed him, responded with, "Ok, see you around," before throwing his phone onto his desk and burying his face in his hands.

Twenty minutes later, he sat down in the conference room with The Director and Senior Agent Francis, officially handing over Bella's case.

-x-

When the plane touched down at San Rafel airfield, there was a black town car waiting to take them back to the Twilight facility. Once there, they were both separated for their debriefs with the security team where statements were taken and information was checked, double checked, and triple checked. Finally, after what felt like days but was actually only four hours, Bella was free to leave and Emmett was waiting for a chance to speak with Dr Banner. Bella made sure to check on him before heading back to her apartment. Once inside, she collected her mail and papers that had built up over the last few days before crashing on her brand new bed.

She woke again, hours later, to the shrill ringing of her CIA cell phone. Frowning into the dark she answered the call with a sharp "What?"

"Miss Swan, I have been trying to contact you all afternoon. I would like to meet with you. There will be a cab waiting outside of your building in twenty minutes."

Bella was given no time to respond before the line went dead. Staring in disbelief at the phone in her hand, she decided to quickly freshen up before her meeting with a man she could only presume was Senior Agent Francis. Twenty minutes later, as promised there was a yellow cab waiting outside of the building for her.

When she arrived at her destination less than ten minutes later, she was greeted stiffly by an older gentleman who quickly ushered her into a storage facility down town and locked the door behind them.

Senior Agent Francis was in his late forties and had been working for the CIA since he had graduated from Columbia with a PhD in Political Science. Where he had once been a fit, energetic young agent, he was now older and more cynical. He had developed a beer belly along with the presence of grey hair. Bella caught herself wondering if this man could be considered too old to be her handler, ironic given she had initially wondered if Edward was too young for the job. Her life wasn't exactly slow; she would need someone who could keep up. Edward may have been unorthodox, but he was always there to help her.

"Miss Swan, let me..." but he was cut off before he could introduce himself.

"Let's get a few things straight before we begin Agent Francis. First, I do not appreciate being spoken to in that manner over the phone. You may be my handler, but understand that if I decide to end this, it is over. Period! Also, how dare you demand this meeting with me after I return from an operation in Europe the very same day. I mean, just how stupid are you? Do you not realize how connected Esme is, how many people are watching me? You put both of our lives in danger by just being here, and for what? To introduce yourself properly? And here was me thinking that Edward was the one without any experience. Now unless you have anything worthy of my time, I'm going home. I need to be back inside Twilight tomorrow morning and I've just flown half way round the world."

It took Agent Francis a few moments to organize his thoughts. He had never been spoken to that way before and certainly not by someone the same age as his daughter. Instead of choosing to argue the situation, he simply handed across a small bag. Bella took it from him without hesitation and opened it up. What she removed appeared to be a two-way communications device.

"What is this?" Surely he wasn't asking what she thought he was.

"It's a two-way communications device. I would like for you to wear it during your time at the Twilight facility."

Bella froze for a split second, just to replay exactly what she had heard before allowing her anger to build. "You want me to do what?" her tone was soft but even Agent Francis could hear the deadly undertones. He was just about to open his mouth to supply an answer when Bella dropped the little piece of plastic to the floor and stomped on it with the heel of her boot. "How about this for an understanding? I will call you when I have some information for the CIA. If you contact me again for any reason other than a life or death situation, I will disappear and none of your undercover operatives will come close to ever finding me."

With those final words, she stormed out of the room and into the cab that had been waiting for her outside. The driver didn't need to ask where she was going; he drove her straight back to her apartment building. While she was busy calling for the elevator Agent Francis was busy placing a call of his own.

"Carlisle, we have a small problem. I don't think that girl of yours likes me." All that he could hear from the other side was his best friend's laughter.

**A/N **

**Firstly, I need to thank my beta, Lady Meadow and my pre-reader for all of their help, guidance and support. **

**I am sorry this took much longer than anticipated to get out. Unfortunately RL dealt one problem after another that kept me from my computer. I will say that I am currently 5 months pregnant with my second child, and this one is not running as smoothly as the last, so while I will try to update at least once a month, I can't promise exact dates. **

**Thanks for sticking with me. **


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